1 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



OF THE 



FARM ^ GARDEN. 



BT 

MAEY TREAT. 



FULLY ILLUSTRATED, 




NEW YORK: 



ORANCxE JUDD COMPANY, 

751 BROADWAY. 

1 882. 



,T1? 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1882, by the 
ORAI^GE JUDD COIAFANY, 
In the Office of the Librarian ot Congress, at Washington. 



PUBLISHEES' PEEFACE. 



The assertion that cultivation of all plants, whether on 
the farm, in the orchard or garden, is largely a struggle 
with insects, has been strikingly illustrated within the 
past few years. The standard works upon Entomology 
include the harmless as well as the injurious insects, and 
are written with reference to the identification of the spe- 
cies rather than to show how they may be destroyed. In 
yiew of the need of a work giying an account of the most 
destructive insects and the present knowledge of the 
methods of preventing their ravages, the Publishers in- 
vited Mrs. Treat to prepare the present volume. The 
fact that she has largely availed herself of the works 
of Prof. -Riley, U. S. Entomologist, gives this book a 
special value. 



3 



PREFACE. 



Onl}' those who live in the country are aware how 
much the success of cultiyators, whether of farm or gar- 
den crojDS, depends upon insects. Tliere is a surprising 
lack of knowledge among otherwise well educated people 
as to the life history of even the most common insects. 
The questions asked, not only by those in my immediate 
neighborhood, but by letters from all parts of the coun- 
try, show how slight is the popular knowledge on this 
most important branch of J^atural History. In view of 
this, and to bring a knowledge of the most destructive in- 
sects within reach of all, this volume has been prepared. 
It will not be necessary to say to those who make use 
of this work that the author has availed herself of the 
permission of Prof. 0. Y. Eiley, to make use of his vari- 
ous contributions to economic entomology. 

Mart Treat. 

Vinelancl, N. J., July, 1882, 



4 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 7 



Insects Injurious to Garden Vegetables. 



Asparagus 15 

Bean 19 

Cabbage 21 

Rape-butterfly 22 

Pot-herb Butterfly 24 

Southern Cabbage-butterfly .27 

Cabbage-Plusia 29 

Zebra Caterpillar 31 

A New Cabba£:e-\vorm 33 

The Wavy-striped Flea-bee- 
tle 35 

The Harlequin Cabbage-bug.37 

Cucumber 42 

(Striped Cucumber-beetle. . .42 



Cucumber. 

The Pickle-worm 45 

Melon — The Melon-worm 48 

Onion 52 

The Black Onion-fly 52 

Imported Onion-fly., 53 

Parsley and Related Plants 55 

Pea 56 

Radish 61 

Squash and Pumpkin 61 

The Squash-bug 61 

The 12-spotted Squash-bee- 
tle 63 

Tomato 65 



Insects Injurious to Root Crops and Indian Corn. 



Indian Corn 67 

The Corn-worm 68 

Seed-corn Maggot 72 

The White Grub 73 

Cut-worms 78 

Wire-worms 81 

" False 82 

The Potato 83 

The Stalk-borer 83 

The Stalk-weevil 85 

The Potato-worm 86 

The Striped Blister-beetle. . .89 
The Ash-gray Blister-beetle. 90 
The Black -rat and Black 
Blister-beetles 91 



The Potato. 

The Margined Blister-beetle 92 
The Three-lined Leaf-bee- 
tle 92 

The Colorado Potato-beetle 94 

Sweet Potato 102 

Tortoise-beetles 102 

The Two-striped Sweet-po- 
tato Beetle 105 

The Golden Tortoise-beetle.106 
The Pale-thighed Tortoise- 
beetle 108 

The Black-legged Tortoise- 
beetle 109 

Turnip and Ruta-Baga 110 



Insects Injurious to Cereax, Grains and the Grass Crops, in- 
cluding Clover. 



Grains— The Chinch-bug 112 

False Chinch-bugs 117 

The Hessian Fly. 120 

The Wheat-Midge 123 

The Joint-worm 124 

Army Worms 129 

5 



Grains — Northern Army Worm.130 
Wheat-head Army Worm.. 134 

Clover 135 

Clovcr-seed Midge 135 

Clover Root-borer 136 

The Clover-worm 137 



6 



CONTENTS. 



Insects Injurious to Fruit Teees. 



Apple-tree Borer, Kouud-bead- 



ed 139 

Apple-tree Borer, Flat-headed. .14A 

Apple- twig Borer 145 

Harris' Bark-louse 147 

Oyster-shell Bark-louse 148 

Apple-tree Tent-caterpillar 151 

Tent- caterpillar of the Forest. .155 

Fall WelD-worm 160 

The Apple - worm — Codling- 
moth 161 

The Apple-maggot 164 

The Apple-curculio 165 



The Canker-worm 166 

The Red-humped Caterpillar. . .170 

The Twig-girdler 171 

The New York WeevO 172 

Climbing Cut-worms 174 

The Bag, Basket, or Drop-worm 177 
The Slug of Pear and Cherry- 
tree 183 

Tbe Peach-borer 183 

The Plum-curcuJio 185 

The Periodical, or 17-year Cica- 
da 190 



Insects Injurious to Small Fruits. 



The Currant and Gooseberry. . .199 

Gooseberry Span-worm 199 

Tbe Imported Currant- 
worm 302 

The Native Currant-worm. 205 
Tbe Currant Stalk-borer. . .206 

Tbe Strawberry 306 

The Strawberry-worm 307 

The Strawberry Leaf-beetle.308 
The Strawberry Leaf-roller.309 
The Strawberry Crown- 
borer 309 

The Blackberry 310 

Blackberry-borers 313 

The Raspberry 313 

The Snowy Tree-cricket. . .214 

The Grape-vine 315 

The Hog-caterpillar of the 

Vine 315 

The Achemon Sphinx. .... .219 



The Grape-vine. 

The Satellite Sphinx 330 

The Abbot Sphinx 334 

The Blue CaterpiUars of the 

Vine 326 

The Eight-spotted Forest- 
er.... 336 

The BeautifulWood Nymph 328 
The Pearl Wood Nymph. . .229 

The Grape Leaf-folder 331 

The Common TeUow Bear.333 

The Grape-vine Plume 235 

The Grape-berry Moth 338 

The Grape-vine riea-beetle.241 

The Spotted Pelidnota 244 

The Rose-bug, or Rose- 
chafer 245 

The Grape PhyUoxera 348 

The Grape Leaf -hopper 259 

The Cranberry 360 



The Insects of the Flower Garden and Greenhouse. 

The Rose-slug 263 j Ichnumon Flies on Aphides. . .365 

Plant-lice— Aphides 365 | The Mealy-bug 267 



The Rocky Mountain Locust 369 



INJURIOUS INSECTS OF THE 
FARM AND GARDEN. 



mTRODUGTION. 

It is not the object of this little volume to teach the 
science of Entomology, or to give the life-history of in- 
sects. It is simply intended to group together the most 
injurious insects with illustrations, that the cultivator 
may see, at a glance, his enemies, and learn the best 
known methods of repelling or destroying them. Still 
there are some points regarding their general structure 
and changes that may be briefly stated. 

The true insects are distinguished from some related 
animals, the crustaceans, myriapods, and others, by hav- 
ing in their perfect state six legs (the others having 
either more or none), and generally, though not always, 
wings. 

The insect has three distinct parts: the head, in which 
are the organs of sense; the thorax, to whicli are attached 
the legs and wings; and the ahdomen, which contains the 
reproductive organs. They breathe through breathing 
holes {spiracles) placed along the sides of the body, 
which communicate with the air tubes within. 
7 



8 



IlfJURIOUS INSECTS 



Insects exist in fonr different stages. First, the egg; 
second, the larva; third, the j^npa or chrysalis; and 
fourth, the imago, perfect insect. 

The parent insect never makes mistakes in providing 
for posterity, but deposits her eggs on or in just the kind 
of food her young requires. Witli most insects the par- 
ents live upon a very different kind of food from that on 
"which their numerous offspring feed, and this makes it 
seem all the more wonderful that they should know so 
well where to place their eggs. The eggs hatch some- 
times within a few days, others take weeks, and some 
pass the winter months, and hatch with the warmth of the 
spring sun. It is noticable that those eggs that are not to 
be hatched until the following spring, are not attached 
to the leaves or other perishable part of a tree or shrub, 
but are securely glued to the bark of a twig or branch; 
they are, moreover, often covered with a kind of varnish 
which protects them from the rains. Unlike other eggs, 
those of insects are not injured by intense cold. 

The young of all insects, of whatever class, are called 
larva (]3lural larvae, a Latin word meaning a mask — it 
being in this stage so unlike the perfect insect that its 
real form may be said to be masked). Distinct names 
are popularly given to the larvae of different insects. 
The larvae of Butterflies and Moths are known as cater- 
pillars; those of the Beetles are called gruhs, and when 
they live in the wood of trees, etc., iorers; the larvge of 
the two- winged flies are known as maggots. In a general 
way, larvae of most kinds are popularly called "worms," 
which, though incorrect, has for some insects, as has 
the term "bug" for others, been adopted by entomolo- 
gists as the common name for the larvae of certain spe- 
cies — ^f or examj)le, "Army-worm," " Canker-worm," etc. 

Tlie larva is the growing state of the insect, in which 
it feeds voraciously, moulting, or throwing off its skin 
from time to time until its full size is attained. The 



OF THE FAEM AN"D GARDEIS". 



9 



larval stage may last but for a week or two, but in some 
insects is known to extend over several years. In some 
insects, as tlie ^losquitoes and Dragon Flies, the life of 
the larva is passed entirely in the water. 

When the larva has made its full growth it passes into 
the state of the pupa — (the name for an infant rolled up 
in bandages after the manner of the ancient Eomans), 
this is also called clirysalis, from the Grreek word for 
gold, as some have gold-hke markings. Most insects are 
in this state perfectly dormant, while a few, as will be 
noticed further on, remain active. Some in their last 
moult appear as if swathed in a hard mummy-like case, 
others make a cocoon of silken threads, like the Silk- 
worm, in which to assume this state; some make a hol- 
low chamber in the earth for the same j^urpose; and a 
number draw together leaves to form a covering to hide 
them while in the pupa state. 

The insect may remain in the pupa state for a few days 
or weeks, or it may pass the winter in this dormant con- 
dition. The methods by which the escape from this 
imprisonment is made at the proper time, are various 
and interesting to the observer. In due time it comes 
forth, and when, as in the case of some moths, it has 
spread and dried its wings, it seems wonderful that it 
could have been packed in so small a space. 

The perfect insect which is usually provided with 
wings, is also called the Imago, the Latin for an appear- 
ance or an image. 

In the study of insects, it is convenient to bring them 
together in what are termed Orders, according to their 
general resemblances. There are seven of these Orders, 
each of which is subdivided into families, genera, etc. 
While entomologists differ as to the minor divisions, 
these Orders are generally followed in uKjdern works. The 
first, and regarded as the highest Order is 



10 



IN-JUEIOUS INSECTS 



Oeder I.— HYMENOPTERA.— The Bees, 
Wasps, Ants, Ichneumon Flies, etc. 

The name Hymenoptera, is from the Greek words for 
' ' membrane " and ^ ' wing. " The Greek word Pteron, ' ' a 
wing," plural Ptera, " wings," is used in forming the 
names of all the Orders. The insects of this Order, (with 



check. This Order ranks the highest in intelligence, and 
many of the insects placed here possess wonderful archi- 
tectural skill. In some of the families the young are 
provided with nurses, who feed and tend them with the 
greatest care and apparent affection. Many are provided 
with stings which are used as weapons of defence. 

Oeder II.— OOLEOPTERA.— Beetles, os 
Shield-winged Insects. 

The Greek word Koleos, a " sheath," combined with 
that for "Aving," makes up the scientific name of this 



important Order, which 
outranks all others in 
the number and diver- 
sity of its species. The 
insects have two pairs 
of wings, the upper of 
which, usually horny or 




leathery in texture, cov- Fig- ^.-lahva. Fig. 3. -beetle. 
er and form a sheath " for a pair of large membranous 




^ ^ \ 

Fig. 1. — STRAWBERRY FLY. 



the exception of the Saw- 
flies and Horn-tails, which 
.are vegetable feeders), are 
highly useful to man. They 
may be regarded as guards 
over the rest of the insect 
world, as they serve to keep 
injurious insects greatly in 



OF THE FAKM AXD GAKDE^f. 



11 



wings, which are folded and concealed beneath them. 
These wing-cases, called Elytra, usually meet together 
with a straight line, or suture, down the back. The 
larvae are popularly known as grnbs aud borers; some 
live entkely below gi'ound, some are aquatic, while 
others live upon foliage. This Order includes some of 
the most injurious insects, and at the same time many 
carniyorous species, which aid in keeping the yegetable- 
feeders in check. 

Okder m.—LEPIDOPTERA.— Butterflies 
AJ^D Moths. 

The wings of these insects when touched leaye a dust 
upon the fingers; this, when examined by a magnifier, is 



found to consist of minute scales, hence from tlie Greek 
word, Lepis, a scale, we get the name Lepidojitera, or 
scaly-winged insects. The laryse, generally known as 
Caterpillars, present a great yariety of forms, and are 
all strikingly different from the perfect or parent insects. 
As these are generally yegetable-feeders, the Order is 




Fig. 4.— LARVA. 



Fig. 6.— MOTH. 



12 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



regarded as tBe'mbst injurious of the seven. Notwitli- 
standing this, in their perfect state, they are among the 
most beautiful creatures in tlie insect world. The Order 
is divided into Butterflies and Moths. The former are 
day-fliers, and their feelers or antennm are thickened at 
the end, and terminate in a kind of knob. The moths 
have their feelers pointed at the tip, and sometimes with 
small side-branches. They mostly fly at night, but a 
subdivision of them fly at twilight. 

Oeder IV.— HEMIPTERA.— The True Bugs. 

This Order, (the name of which means " half -winged," 
a portion of the front wings being thick and leathery), 
includes some very injurious 
insects — as the Chinch-bug, 
Squash-bug, Plant-lice, and 
the disgusting Bed-bug, while 
some are carnivorous. The 





Fig. 7. — ^WHEEL-BUG {Eeduv 



Fig. 8. — HESSIAN IXT. 



Iarv83 have much the appearance of the perfect insect, 
simply difi:ering from them in the lack of wmgs. The 
Reduvms, or Wheel-bug, fig. 7, is an example of the car- 
nivorous and useful insects of this Order. The character 
of the larvae is seen in the engraving of the Chinch-bug. 



Order V.—DIPTERA.— Two-winged Insects. 



This is the only Order of insects that have but two 
wings (a fact expressed in the name). It comprises a 



OF THE FARM AND GAEDEJS". 



13 



great number of species. 'Not even the Coleoptera, can 
vie with it in numbers. And it embraces some of the 
most annoying insects — as the Moscjuito, Horse-fly, G-nat, 
and House-fly, also many that are decidedly injurious to 
vegetation — as the Hessian-fly, Wheat-midge, Onion- 
maggot, etc., etc. But many of the larvae act the part of 
scavengers, and some few are beneficial to the agricul- 
turist — as the Sijrpliuswiidi Tacliina flies. The young of 
this Order are known as Maggots. 

Oeder VI.— OKTHOPTERA.— Straight- wmGED 
Insects. 



The name of this Order is from the Greek, Ortlios, 
"straight," the insects have long bodies, straight wings. 




Fig. 9.— THE LUBBER GRASSHOPPEK OF FLORIDA. 



large heads, and strong jaws. It includes Grasshoppers, 
Locusts, Cockroaches, Crickets, and Walking-sticks. The 
larvae look very much like the parents, except in their 
usually smaller wings. 



14 



INJURIOUS IKSECTS. 



Order VII.— NEUROPTERA.— JSTbrve-wistged 
Insects. 

This Order takes in the Dragon-flies, Lace-wings, 
White-ants, etc. The veins in the wings of these insects 

are so numerous, that 
they look like net- 
work, and give the 
name, from Neuron, 
nerve, to the Order, 
These insects do no 
harm, with the excep- 

Fig. 10.-AQUATIC LABYA OF DEAGON-FLT. ^-^^^ WhitC-autS, 

and Book-lice. Some are quite beneficial to man, both 
in the larval and winged states. The larvae of the 
Dragon-flies are aquatic, and exceedingly voracious; they 




Fi^, 11, — DRAGON-FLY. 



prey upon the larvae of Mosquitoes, and in the perfect 
insects destroy vast numbers of winged Mosquitoes. 




Insects Injui'ious to Garden Vegetables. 



ASPARAGUS. 
THE ASPARAGUS BEETLE. 

(Crioceris asparagi, Linn,) 

About 1860, the Asparagus Beetle was accidentally in- 
troduced into Long- Island, N. Y., from the other side of 
the Atlantic; and in a very few years it had increased 
and multiplied, among the extensive asparagus planta- 
tions in that locality, to such an extent as to occasion a 
dead loss of some fifty thousand dollars in a single 
county. In the year 1868, it had 
already crossed over from Long 
Island on to the adjoining main land; 
and thence was spread westward. 

That our readers may recognize 
at once this pernicious insect as soon 
as they see it, we annex figures of it 
in its various stages. The perfect 
beetle (shown at a, fig. 12, much 
enlarged, the lines indicating the 
real size), is of a deep bfue-black 
color, with the thorax brick-red, 
and some markings of very variable 
shai^e and size on the side of its 
wing-cases. The eggs (b) are gen- Fig. 12. 

erally attached to the leaves of the asparagus beetle 

{Cnocer IS asparagi.) 

growing asparagus, and are of a a, Beetle ; 6, Eggs ; c, Larva, 
blackish color. The larva (magnified at c) is of a dull 
ash color, v/ith a black head aud six black legs placed at 
15 





16 



IKJUEIOUS II^SECTS 



the forward end of the body, the tail end being used as a 
pro-leg in walking, as with the larvae of most of the 
allied beetles. The insect passes the winter under loose 
bark and in other such sheltered situations, in the j^erfect 
or beetle state; and in May, or soon after the season for 
cutting the asparagus for table use has commenced, it 
conies forth from its winter quarters and lays the first 
brood of eggs. These hatch out in about eight days, and 
by the middle of June the first brood of larvae are large 
enough to be noticed, eating the bark off the more tender 
part of the young stems first, and in default of this con- 
suming the tougher and harder bark of the main stalks. 
About the end of June they descend to the ground, and 
either going under the surface of the earth, or hiding 
under any rubbish that may have accumulated there, 
form slight cocoons and pass into the pupa state. From 
these pupae there bursts forth the same season a second 
brood of beetles, which lays its eggs as before, and pro- 
duces about the middle of August a second brood of 
larvae or grubs, whence in the same manner as before 
there comes forth in Sej^tember the brood of beetles 
which is destiued to pass the winter in the beetle state 
and reproduce the species in the following spring. 

According to Dr. Fitch, who published an excellent 
account of the depredations of this insect on Long 
Island up to the year 1862, one asparagus grower there 
had three acres out of seven almost ruined;" and four 
others had asparagus beds so badly injured that they 
plowed them up. Throughout this entire region the gen- 
eral idea up to 1862 seems to have been, that if this 
beetle was not soon destroyed, the asparagus would be; 
for every year the insect appeared to spread further and 
further, extending already for a distance of at least forty 
miles along the northern side of Long Island, and every 
year it got to be more numerous aud more destructive. 
Lime, salt, potash, and a variety of other such applica- 



OF THE FAEM AI>fD GAEDEiiif. 



1^ 



tions, had all been tried and found ineffectual as reme- 
dies; domestic fowls, wliicli, as Dr. Fitcli ascertained, fed 
greedily upon the beetles, could scarcely be used in suflS.- 
cient numbers to clear fields of ten and twenty acres in 
extent; and as to haud-i3icking twenty-acre fields, espe- 
cially where the insect is so small, that would be too dis- 
couraging an idea to be entertained for a moment. 

But in the year 1863, as we learn from Isaac Hicks, of 
Long Island, a deliverer appeared in the form of a small 
shining black parasitic fly, probably belonging either to 
the Clialcis or to the Prodotrupes Family. Whether this 
Fly lays its eggs in the eggs of the Asparagus Beetles, or 
in the larva of that insect, does not seem at present to 
be clearly ascertained; but if the accounts we have re- 
ceived of it be correct, it must do either one or the other. 
In the former case, the larva that hatches out from the 
parasitic egg will consume the egg of the Asj^aragus 
Beetle and entirely j)revent it from hatching; in the lat- 
ter case it will destroy the larva before it has time to pass 
into the perfect state. The result, in either event, will 
be equally destructive to the bug and beneficial to the 
gardener. Thus we are told, ^^although the Asparagus 
Beetle has not entirely ceased to trouble them upon Long 
Island since 1863, it yet has never since that year been 
of any very material damage there. Upon a few farms it 
still strips the plants in the latter part of summer, but 
not to much extent or so as to entail any very serious 
loss." 

But the diminution in the numbers of the Asparagus 
Beetle is probably due in part to artificial, as well as nat- 
ural causes. The Asparagus growers upon Long Island 
have introduced a method of fighting the insect, which 
is founded upon correct principles, and seems to be fol- 
lowed by very gratifying results. Early in the spring, 
when the Beetle has made its appearance and is ready to 
lay its eggs, ^^they destroy," as we are informed, '^all 



18 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



the plants upon the farm except the large plants for 
market, hoeing up all the young seedlings that, as is well 
known, start from the last year's seed every spring upon 
the beds." Thus the mother-beetle is forced to lay her 
eggs upon the large shoots from the old stools; and as 
these are cut and sent to market every few days, there 
are no eggs left to hatch out into larva? for the second 
brood of beetles. 

At first sight we might suppose that it would be possi- 
ble, by carrying out the above system to its utmost 
extent, to extirpate the insect entirely. But unfortu- 
nately this can not be done. Asparagus, according to 
Dr. Eitch, has run wild to a considerable extent upon 
Long Island, '^and slender spindling stalks of it may be 
seen growing in all situations there, by the roadsides, in 
the fields and in the woods. Thus the Asparagus Beetle 
has such an abundance of food everywhere presented to 
it, and the insect is already occupying such an extent of 
territory, that there seems to be no mode by which it is 
now possible for us to effect its extermination." 

To many persons, perhaps, such a crop as As23aragus 
may seem of but very trifling importance in a pecuniary 
point of view. But we have already seen upon how large 
a scale it is cultivated on Long Island, in the State of 
New York; and a writer in the American Journal of 
Horticulture," who hails from New Jersey, remarks as 
follows: We plant Asparagus in great fields of ten to 
twenty acres. Well planted, it will cost a hundred dol- 
lars to set an acre; but it will continue productive for 
twenty years; and if properly cared for, each acre will 
clear two hundred dollars annually. There are men all 
around me who have made small fortunes out of this 
single article." 



OF THE FARM AisJJ GABDEif. 



19 



BEAN. 

THE AMERICAN BEAN-WEE\IL. 
{Bruchus fabce, Riley.) 

This Weevil api3ears to be a native American insect 
and doubtless fed originally on some kind of wild bean 
(PJiaseoIus or Lathy r us), but it was first noticed in our 
cultivated beans about the year 1861, in Khode Island, 
and ha^ since, at diSerent times, suddenly made its 
appearance in several other j^arts of the country. 

If, as has been supposed, it possibly occurs over large 
tracts of our country, the faot that, until a few years ago, 
it had never been collected by any American eutomolo- 
gist, would strongly intimate that, in what may be 
termed its wild state, it was quite rare and had a limited 
rano^e. But even if it should occur in this wild state 
more generally through the country than the facts would 
lead us to believe, there is nevertheless more danger of 
its being introduced into a bean field hitherto exempt by 
the planting of infested cultivated beans, than by its 
spreading from the wild food. And if once a few bnggy 
beans are i^lanted, they will in a short time infest the other 
beans cultivated in the neighborhood, so that the man 
who, year after year, gTows his own seed, will suffer as 
much as the man who originally introduces the weevils 
from afar. 

Except in being smaller, the larva and puj^a of this 
weevil have a close resemblance to those of the Pea- 
weevil, and its habits are very similar, with the excej^ 
tion that the female deposits a greater number of eggs 
on a single pod, so that sometimes over a dozen larvte 
enter a single bean. As many as fourteen have been 
counted in one bean, and the space required for each indi- 
vidual to develop is not much more than sufficient to 



20 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



snugly contain the beetle. The little spot where the 
Pea-weevil entered can always be detected, even in the 
dry pea, but in the bean these points of entrance become 
almost entirely obliterated. The cell in which the trans- 
formations take place is more perfect and smooth, and 
the lining is easily distinguished from the meat of the 
bean by its being more white and opaque. The excre- 
ment is yellow, or darker than the meat, and, even 
where a bean is so badly infested that the inside is en- 
tirely reduced to this excrementitious powder, each 



Fig. 13.— THE BEAN-wEEVTL. iu wliitc-skinned varieties, so 



by the bluish-black spots which they exhibit (fig. 13, h). 
Dark beans when infested are not so easily distinguished. 
The germ is always found either untouched or only 
partially devoured, even in the worst infested beans, so 
that when but two or three weevils inhabit a bean, it 
would doubtless grow; but where the meat is entirely 
destroyed, as it often is, the bean would hardly grow 
though the germ remained intact, and it would certainly 
not produce a vigorous plant. Figure 13, a, gives the 
weevil magnified, its real size being shown by the small 
outline at the left. 

Some of the beetles are perfected in the fall, but many 
of them not until the following sjDring, so that there is the 
same danger of introducing them in seed-beans as in the 
case of the Pea-weevil. The remedies and preventives 
given for the Pea-weevil will of course apply equally well 




larva, before transforming, 
manages to form for itself a 
complete cell, which sepa- 
rates it from the rest of its 
bretliren. The eye-spot, as 
in the pea, is perfectly cir- 
cular and quite transparent 



{Bnu'lms fahce. ) 

a. Weevil, magnified, the real size in 
outliue ; h, Infested Bean. 



that infested beans of this 
kind are easily distinguished 



OF THE FARM AKD GARDEN. 



21 



to this, and every bean -grower who reads this should 
make an effort to keep the scourge out of his own 
neighborhood, by urging upon others, at the Farm- 
ers' Club, or at the meetings of any local societies, the 
necessity of planting only sound seed, and of thoroughly 
destroying any that may be received from abroad and 
found buggy. 



CABBAGE. 
CABBAGE BUTTERFLIES, 

There is a certain group of butterflies, known, scien- 
tifically, by the name of Pieris, to farmers as ' ' Garden 
Whites " or ' ' Cabbage Butterflies. " They are easily rec- 
ognized by the following characters: The wings are 
generally white, with inconspicuous black markings, and 
occasionally with green or yellow underneath; they are 
very broad, and have no scallops or indentations in the 
margin; the hind wings in outline resemble an egg. 

The feelers (palpi) are rather slender, but project be- 
yond the head; the antennae have a short, flattened knob. 
Their flight is lazy and lumbering. The caterpillars are 
nearly cylindrical, taper a little towards each end, and 
are sparingly clothed with short down — which requires a 
microscope to be distinctly seen. They suspend them- 
selves by the tail and a transverse loop, and their chrysa- 
lids are angular at the side and pointed at both ends." 
(Harris. ) 

This genus is interesting, though disagreeably so, to 
every farmer, for the different species are very destruc- 
tive to various vegetables — among others, cabbages, nas- 
turtium, mignonette, cauliflowers, turnips, and carrots. 



22 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



We notice only three of the species, as these will serve to 
indicate the habits of the whole genus — which eyery 
farmer should be familiar with, so that he may be able 
to recognize and destroy such dangerous foes. 

THE RAPE BUTTERFLY. 
{Pieris rapce, Schrank.) 

This insect has been the occasion of some little specula- 
tion and great interest to our New England and Canadian 
entomologists, inasmuch as it has been introduced to 
this country from England, and is probably one of the 
most perfect instances on record of any insect being im- 
ported from one country to another and becoming com- 
pletely naturalized in its new quarters. There does not 
seem to be the slightest doubt that this is the English 
species. It was probably introduced in 1856 or 1857. 
It was first taken in Quebec in 1859, and in 1863 it was 
captured in large numbers by Mr. Bowles in the vicinity 
of that city. As the eggs are laid on the under sides of 
leaves, it was probably introduced in this form, the re- 
fuse leaves being thrown out of some ship, after which 
the larvae hatched, and, finding themselves in the neigh- 
borhood of their food, ate and flourished. Being, more- 
over, hardy little fellows, they were perfectly able to en- 
dure a change of climate. In 1864 it had spread about 
forty miles from Quebec as a center; in 1866 it was taken 
in the northern parts of New Hampshire and Vermont; 
in 1868 it had advanced still further south, and was seen 
near Lake Winnipesaugee; in 1869 it was taken around 
Boston, Mass., and a few stray specimens in New Jersey. 
Since that time it has spread over a wide range of coun- 
try. The larva and pupa seem to have an unusual power 
of accommodating themselves to circumstances — for in- 
stance, Mr. Curtis, in his ''Farm Insects of England," 



OF THE FARM AKD GAEDEK. 



23 



states that the caterpillars have been found feeding on 
willow. 

The larva (fig 14) is one and one-half inch long; pale- 
green, finely dotted with black; a yellow stripe down the 
back, and a row of yellow spots along each side, in a line 
Avith the breathing holes. In England and around Quebec 
it has done immense damage to the cabbages and other 
Cruciferce (Cress Family), by boring into the very heart 
of the plant, instead of being content with the less valu- 
able outer portion, as some other species are. On this 
account the French call it the Ver du Cmir,^^ or Heart- 
When about to transform, it leaves the plants on 



worm. 




Fig. 15. — CHBYSAMS. Fig. 16.— RAPE BUTTERFLY {RcHs ropos).— FEMALE. 

which it has been living, and fastens itself on the under 
side of some stone, plank, or fence-rail, where it changes 
into a chrysalis in the middle or latter part of Septem- 
ber, and in this stage it hibernates, producing, in New 
England, at least, the perfect insect early in April. The 
chrysalis or pupa (fig. 15) is variable in color, being 
sometimes yellowish-brown or yellow, and passing thence 
into green, speckled with minute black dots. The brood 
of butterflies that emerges from the pupa state in the 
spring lays eggs shortly afterwards, and these eggs pro- 
duce caterpillars, which, in their turn, chauge to chrysa- 
lids in June, and in seven or eight days more the butter- 
fly appears, which again lays its eggs for the second 
brood, which, as before stated, hibernates in the pupa state. 



24 



i:n"jurious insects 



In the perfect bntterfly the body and head are blacky 
and the wings white, marked with black, as follows: In 
the female (fig. 16), a small space at the tip, and three 
spots on the outer half of the front wings, and one spot 
on the hind wings; beneath, one spot on the front wings, 
but none on the hind wings, which are commonly yel- 
lowish, sometimes passing into green. The male (fig. 17) 

has only one spot above 
and two beneath on the 
front wings, and a black 
dash on the anterior 
edge of the hind wings. 
There is a yariety of the 
latter sex which has the 
same markings, but dif- 
fers from the type in 
the ground color being 
canary yellow. Curiously enough, this yariety has been 
taken both in this country and in England. 

These butterflies occasionally assemble in great num- 
bers. At one time a flight crossed the English channel 
from France to England, and such was the density and 
the extent of the liying mass, that the sun was completely 
obscured for a distance of many hundred yards from the 
people on board a shij) that was passing underneath this 
strange cloud. 




Fig. 17. 

RAPE BUTTERFLY {PkHs ropce). 



THE POT-HERB BUTTERFLY. 



(Pieris oleracea, Boisd,) 



This species has a yery wide range, reaching rarely as 
far south as Pennsylvania, extending eastward to Nova 
Scotia, and at least as far west as Lake Superior, while 
in the north it is found as high up as the Great Slave 
Lake in the Hudson Bay Company's territory. This 



OF THE FARM Ai^D GARDEN. 



^5 



butterfly (fig. 18, h) has a black body; the front wings are 
white, marked above with black at the base, along the 
front edge, and at the tip; the hind wings are white 
above and lemon-yellow beneath, but without markings, 
except a few l^lack scales at the base. 

About the last of May numerous specimens of this 
species may be seen over cabbage, radish, or turnip beds, 
or patches of mustard, where, on the under side of the 
leaves, it deposits its eggs. These are yellowish, nearly 
pear-shaped, longitudinally ribbed, and one-fifteenth of 
an inch in diameter, and are seldom laid more than two 
or three together. In a week or ten days the young 
caterpillars are hatched; in three weeks more they have 
attained their full growth, which is an inch and one-half 





Fig. 18.— POT-HERB BUTTERFLY, 

{Pi&t'is oleracea.) 
a. Larva ; h. Butterfly. 



Fig. 19.— CHB,YSALIS. 

long. Being slender and 
green (fig. 18, a), they 
are not readily distin- 
guished from the leaves 
on which they live. 
They taper a little to- 
ward each end, and are 
densely covered with 
hairs. They begin to 
eat indiscriminately on 
When they have completed the 



any part of the leaf, 
feeding stage, they quit the plants and retire beneath 
palings, etc., where they spin a little tuft of silk, en- 
tangle their hindmost feet in it, and then proceed to 
form a loop to sustain the front part of the body in a 
horizontal or vertical position. Bending its head on one 
side, the caterpillar fastens to the surface, beneath the 
middle of its body, a silken thread, which it carries 
2 



26 



INJURIOUS Il^SECTS 



across its back and secures on the other side, and repeats 
this operation nntil a band, or loop, of sufficient strength 
is formed. On the next day it casts off the caterpillar 
skin, and becomes a chrysalis (fig. 19). This is of a 
pale-green, and sometimes of a white color, regularly 
and finely dotted with black; the sides of the body are 
angular, the head is surmounted by a conical tuber- 
cle, and over the forepart of the body, corresponding to 
the thorax of the included butterfly, is a thin projection, 
having in profile some resemblance to a Eoman nose. 
The insect remains in this stage for ten or twelve days, 
when the butterfly appears. 

In the last of July and first of August, these insects 
may be seen in large numbers depositing their eggs for a 
second brood, which, wintering in the pupa state, pro- 
duces the perfect insect (fig. 18, h) the following May. 

This butterfly varies considerably. There are never, 
we believe, perfectly white specimens, though often 
nearly so. Again, some specimens have very faint indi- 
cations of spots arranged as in P. rapm; but on the 
under side are found the widest limits of variation, for 
not only do the tips of the front wings become distinctly 
greenish, or lemon-yellow, and the veins of that portion 
bordered with grayish scales, but the hind wings may 
also have the ground color distinctly greenish, lemon- 
yellow, or whitish, and the veins display gray scales on 
each side. 

By taking advantage of the habits of these insects, 
they might be nearly exterminated. If boards are placed 
among the infested plants, about two inches above the 
ground, the caterpillars when about to change will resort 
to them, and there undergo their metamorphoses. They 
may then be collected by hand on the under side of the 
boards, and destroyed. As the butterflies are slow fliers, 
they may be taken in a net and killed. A short handle, 
perhaps four feet long, with a wire hoop, and bag-net of 



OF THE FAEM AKB GARDEK. 



touslin or mosquito netting, are all that are reqnired to 
make this useful implement. The titmouse is said to 
eat the laryse, and should therefore be protected and 
encouraged. 

[The descriptions of this and the preceding species are 
condensed from an article by Ohas. S. Minot in Ameri- 
can Entomologist."] 

THE SOUTHERN CABBAGE BUTTERFLY. 
{Pieris Protodice, Boisd.) 

This species, though scarce in the more Korthern 
States, abounds in many of the Southern States, where it 
takes the place of the two species just described. It often 




Fig. 20.— SOUTHERN CABBAGE BUTTERFLY {ReHs Frotodke). 
a, Larva; &. Chrysalis. 

proves exceedingly injurious, and we learn from a Mis- 
sissippi journal that there were last year thousands of 
dollars' worth of cabbages devastated and ruined by 
worms in the neighborhood of Corinth." We are fur- 
thermore told, that cabbages could not, in consequence, 
be had there even at ten cents per head. The * ' worm " 
referred to, was doubtless the species under considera- 
tion. It abounds in many parts of Missouri, and especi- 
ally in the truck gardens around large cities, where it 
proves quite destructive to the cabbages. 

The larva (fig. 20, a), may be summarily described as 



28 



IHJtJEIOUS II^^SECTS 




Fig. 21. 

SOUTHERN CABBAGE BUTTERFLY. 



a soft worm, of a greenish-blue color, with four longitu- 
dinal yellow stripes, and covered with black dots. When 
newly hatched it is of a uniform orange color with a 
black head, but it becomes dull-brown before the first 
moult, though the longitudinal stripes and black spots 
are only visible after said moult has taken place. 

The chrysalis (fig. 
20, averages 0.65 
inch in length, and 
is as variable in 
depth of ground-col- 
or, as the larva. The 
general color is light 
bluish-gray, more or 
less intensely speck- 
led with black, with 
the ridges and promi- 
nences edged with buff or with flesh-color, and having 
larger black dots. 

The female butterfly (fig. 21), differs remarkably from 
the male represented at figure 22. It will be seen, upon 
comparing these fig- 
ures that the female 
is altogether darker 
than the male. This 
sexual difference in 
appearance is purely 
colorational, however, 
and there should not 
be the difference in 
the form of the wings 
which the two figures 

would indicate, for the hind wings in our male cut are 
altogether too short and rounded. 

This insect may be found in all its different stages 
through the months of July, August, and September, It 




Fig. 22. 

SOUTHERN CABBAGE BUTTERFLY. — MALE. 



OF THE FAEM Ai^D GARDEIf. 



29 



hibernates in the chrysalis state. We do not know that 
it feeds on anything but cabbage, but we once found a 
male chrysalis fastened to a stalk of the common Horse 
Nettle/' {Solamiin CaroUnense) which was growing in a 
cemetery with no cabbages within at least a quarter of a 

THE CABBAGE PLUSIA. 
(Plusia brassicoe, Riley.) 

This is the next most common insect which attacks the 
Cabbage with us, and curiously enough it has never yet 




Fig. 33. — THE nABBAGE PLUSIA (Plusia brassicce), 
a. Larva ; b, Chrysalis ; c, Moth, male. 



been described. It is a moth and not a butterfly, and 
flies by night instead of by day. In the months of Au- 
.gust and September the larva (fig. 23, a), maybe found 
quite abundant on this plants gnawing large irregular 
holes in the leaves. It is a pale-green translucent worm, 
marked longitudinally with still paler more opaque lines, 
and like all the known larvae of the family to which it 
belongs, it has but two pair of abdominal pro-legs, the 



30 



IXJUEIOUS INSECTS 



two anterior segments, wliicli are tistially f tirnislied with 
sitcli legs in ordinary caterpillars, not liaving the slight- 
est trace of any. Consequently they have to Ioojd the 
body in marching, as represented in the figure, and are 
true Span worms. Their bodies are very soft and tender, 
and as they live exposed on the outside of plants, and 
often rest motionless, with the body arched, for hours at 
a time, they are espied and devotired by many of their 
enemies, such as birds, toads, etc. They are also sub- 
ject to the attacks of at least two parasites and die very 
often from disease, especially in wet weather, so that 
they are never likely to increase as rapidly as the butter- 
flies already described. 

"When full grown, this worm weaves a yery thin, loose, 
white cocoon, sometimes between the leaves on which it 
fed, but generally chooses some more sheltered situation; 
and changes to a chrysalis (fig. 23, b,) which varies from 
pale yellowish-green to brown, and has a considerable 
protuberance at the end of the wing and leg-cases, caused 
by the long proboscis of the enclosed moth being bent 
back at that point. This chrysalis is soft, the skin being- 
very thin, and it is furnished at the extremity with an 
obtuse roughened projection, which emits two converging 
points, and several short curled bristles, by the aid of 
which it is enabled to cling to its cocoon. 

The moth is of a dark smoky-gray, inclining to 
brown, variegated with light grayi>h-brown, and marked 
in the middle of each front wing with a small oval spot, 
and a somewhat U->haped silvery- white mark, as in the 
engTa^ing. The male (fig. 23. c.) is easily distinguished 
from the female by a large tuft of golden hairs covering 
a few black ones, which springs from each side of his 
abdomen towards the tip. 

The suggestions given for destroying the larva? of the 
Cabbage Butterfl.ies, apply equally well to those of this 
Cabbage Plusia, and diTnchings with a cresyhc wash will 



OF THE PAE:^ AXD GARDEN}". 



31 



be found eyen more effectual, as the worms drop to the 
ground with the slightest jar. 

THE ZEBRA CATERPILLAR. 

{Mamestra pieta, Harr.) 

There is another insect which often proves injurious 
to our cauliflowers and cabbages, though it by no means 
confines itself to these two yegetables. Early in June 
the young worms, which are at first almost black, though 
they soon become pale and gTeen, may be found in dense 




Fig. 34.— THE ZEBRA CATERprLLAB {Mam£stra jpicM). 

a. Larva ; h. Moth. 



clusters on these plants, for they are at that time gre- 
garious. As they grow older, they disperse and are not 
so easily found, and in about four weeks from the time of 
hatching, they come to their full growth. Each worm, 
(fig. 24, a,) then measures about two inches in length, 
and is yelvety-black, with a red head, red legs, and with 
two lateral yellow lines, between which are numerous, 
transverse white, irregular, zebra-like finer lines, which 



33 



lifJURIOUS IXSECTS 



induced Dr. Melsheimer to call this worm the Zebra." 
Though it does not conceal itself, it inyariably curls up 
cut-worm fashion, and rolls to the ground when disturbed. 

It changes to the chrysalis within a rude cocoon formed 
just under the surface of the ground, by interweaying a 
few grains of sand, or a few particles of whatever goil it 
happens on. With silken threads. The chrysalis is three- 
fourths of an inch in length, deep shiny brown, and thickly 
punctured except on the posterior border of the seg- 
ments, and especially of those three immediately below 
the wing-sheaths, where it is reddish and not polished ; 
it terminates in a blunt point ornamented with two thorns. 
The moth (fig. 24, l,) which is called the Painted 
Mamestra, appears during the latter part of July, audit is 
a prettily marked species, the front wings of a beautiful 
and rich purple-brown, blending with a dehcate hghter 
shade of brown in the middle; ordinary spots in the 
middle of the wing, with a third oval spot more or less 
distinctly marked behind the round one, are edged and 
transversed by white lines so as to appear like delicate 
net-work; a transverse zigzag white line, like a sprawling 
W, is also more or less visible near the terminal border, 
on which border there is a series of white specks; a few 
white atoms are also sj)rinkled in other places on the 
wing. The hind wings are white, faintly edged with 
brown on the upper and outer borders. The head and 
thorax are of the same color as the front wingS; and the 
body has a more grayish cast. 

There are two broods of this insect each year, the second 
brood appearing in the latitude of St. Louis from the 
middle of August along into October, and in all proba- 
bility passing the winter in the chrysalis state, though a 
few may issue in the fall, and hibernate as moths, or 
may even hibernate as worms; for Mr. J. H. Parsons, of 
N. Y. , found that some of the worms vf hich were on his 
Kuta Baga leaves, stood a frost hard enough to freeze 



OF THE fae:m axd gaedex 



33 



potatoes in tlie liill, without being killed. I have noticed 
that the spring brood confines itself more especially to 
yonng cruciferous plants, such as cabbages, and also on 
beets, spinach, etc., but hare found the fall broods collect 
in hundreds on the heads and flower-buds of asters, on 
the SnoTT-berrj or TVhite-berrv {Si/nqjJioricarpus race- 
mosus); on diSerent kinds of Honey-suclde, Mignonette, 
and on Asparagus ; they are also said to occur on the 
flowers of Clover, and are quite partial to the common 
Lamb's-quarter, or Goosefoot {Chenojmlium album). 
On account of their gregarious habit when young, they 
are very easily destroyed at this stage of their growth. 

A NEW CABBAGE WORM. 
{Pionea Hmosalis, Guen). 

Prof. Cyras Thomas, Oarbondale, wrote to the 
American Entomologist," in substance, as follows: *' I 
have something new. It is a new Cabbage worm, the 
larva of Pionea [Orobena] rimosalis, Guen., which 
appeared late the past season, remaining on the cabbages 
till toward the end of Xovember. It is very destructive, 
doing as much injury to my cabbages after it appeared as 
the imported Cabbage worm (Pieris rapm) which has 
been very destractive here this season. The larva, when 
full grown, is six or seven-tenths of an inch long (a 16- 
legged Pyi'alid larva); slender, slightly flattened; head 
shining greenish-yellow; dorsal portion of the body down 
to the breathing pores purplish-brown; this portion 
marked with numerous transverse whitish lines, two or 
three to a segment; a narrow, pale yellow line along the 
region of the stigmata; underside pale green. In the 
breeding cages they went down to the soil, but not into 
it, to pupate; forming a slight, regularly shaped, oval 
cocoon, thickly covered over with sand. 



34 



IKJUEIOUS IKSECTS 



Miss Middleton's record shows as follows; **Went 
into the pupa state September 12th, 13th, and 14th; 
moths appeared 16th to 22nd, and on to Oct. 1st. 

After this there was another brood of worms, my 
description having been taken from living specimens, 
Nov. 21st. The eggs I have not seen, but from the fact 
that the young feed somewhat together (though not 
really in companies) I presume a number are laid 
together. These worms eat, as a general thing, elongate 
oval holes in the leaves, gradually extending them until 
nothing but the larger veins remain. 

'^^ They also bore directly into the heads, to the depth 
of, or rather through three or four leaves; a habit, so far 
as my experience goes, wrongly ascribed to the larva of 
P. ra^jm, which will seldom eat through even one leaf of 
a solid head until it is at least slightly loosened. 

Lime, ashes, brine, salt, elder decoction, and lye as 
strong as the cabbages can bear, and other substances 
tried, have even less effect upon them than on the 
imported Cabbage worm. The lye, fresh made, of strong 
ashes, did more than anything else tried. 

" I have ascertained that some varieties of the cabbage 
suffer much less from P, rapm than others, and that 
bringing them forward two or three weeks earlier than 
usual so as to have the heads pretty well formed before 
the full brood appears, is also an excellent plan to coun- 
teract them. " 

The editor adds: This is the first instance which has 
come to our knowledge, of Pionea rimosalis injuring 
cabbage. It is interesting, as illustrating the unity of 
habit in the genus which essentially feeds on Cruciferce. 
The larva of P. forficalis, L., is very destructive to cab- 
bages in Europe, working very much as Prof. Thomas 
has described in the case of P. rimosalis. 

Eemedy foe Cabbage Worms. — Of all the many top- 
ical remedies that have been tried for the Imported 



OF THE PAEM Al^D GAKDE^T. 



35 



Cabbage worm since it first began to spread oyer the 
country and to play havoc with our cabbage fields, few, 
if any, have given entire satisfaction. It is safe to say 
that the most satisfactory remedy so far discovered is in 
the use of Pyrethrum. Prof. Eiley was the first to 
apply this in 1879, but did not care to recommend it 
until further experiments had been made. He has made 
these since, and caused others to be made by a number of 
his agents and correspondents. The general experience 
is most favorable, and he unhesitatingly recommends it for 
all the different worms affecting the leaves of our 
cabbage plants. Some have found hot water very ef- 
fective on a large scale. Living plants will bear, without 
injury, for a few seconds, water hot enough to kill soft- 
bodied insects. The water should be at the temperature 
of aboat 160° when it reaches the plant; it will cool 
somewhat during the application, and allowance should 
be made for this. 



THE WAYY-STEIPED FLEA-BEETLE. 
{Haltica [Phyllotreta] striolata, Illiger.) 



*'The Striped Turnip-beetle (fig. 25, a,) is less than 
one-tenth of an inch in length. Its general appearance 
is black, with a broad wavy yellowish, or buff-colored 
stripe, on each wing-cover. The 
larva (fig. 25, b,) is white, with a 
faint darkened or dusky median 
line on the anterior half of the 
body, being probably the contents 
of the alimentary canal seen 
through the semi-translucent skin. 
The head is horny and light 
brown. On the posterior extremity is a brown spot equal 
to the head in size; and there are six true legs and one 




a b c 

Eig. 25.— WAVT-STKIPED 
FLEA-BEETLE. 

(Haltica striolata. ) 
a, Beetle ; b, Larva; c, Pupa. 



36 



INJUEIOUS IKSECTS 



proleg. In its form and general appearance it somewliat 
resembles the larva of the Cucumber-beetle, but it is 
much smaller. Its motion is slow, arching up the ab- 
domen slightly, on paper or any smooth surface, in such 
a position that its motions are necessarily awkward and 
unnatural, because in a state of nature it never crawls 
over the surface, but digs and burrows among the roots in 
the ground. Its length is 0.35 of an inch, and breadth 
0.06 of an inch. It feeds upon roots beneath the ground. 

**The pupa (fig. 25, c,) is naked, white, and transforms 
in a little earthen cocoon, pressed and prepared by the 
larva, in the ground near its feeding place. This period 
is short. 

''Every gardener knows that these insects are very 
injurious to young cabbages and turnips as soon as they 
appear above the ground, by eating off the seed-leaves; he 
also almost universally imagines that v/hen the second, or 
tree-plant leaves appear, that the young plant is safe from 
their depredations; then the stem is so hard that the 
insect will not bite it, and the leaves grow out so rapidly 
as not usually to be injured by them. But if we would 
gain much true knowledge of what is going on around us, 
even among these most simple and common things, we 
must learn to observe more closely than most men do. 

'' The gardener sees his young cabbage plants growing 
well for a time, but at length they become pale or 
sickly, wither and die in some dry period that usually 
occurs about that time, and attributes their death to the 
dry weather; but if he will take the pains to examine the 
roots of the plants, he will find them eaten away' by some 
insect, and by searching closely about the roots will find 
the larva, grub, worm, or whatever else he may choose to 
call it; from this he can breed the Striped Turnip-beetle, 
as I have often done. 

I have observed the depredations of these larvae for 
ten years, and most of that time had a convincing 



OF THE FARM AJiTD GAEDEl^". 



37 



knowledge of tlieir origin, but only proved it in 1865; 
since that time I have made yearly yerifications of this 
fact. 

Every year the cabbage plants and turnips in this 
region receive great damage from these larvae, and often 
when we have dry weather, in the latter part of May and 
early in June, the cabbage plants are ruined. A large 
proportion of them are killed outright in June, and the 
balance rendered scarcely fit for planting; but when the 
ground is wet to the surface all the time by frequent 
rains, the young plant is able to defend itself much more 
elfectually, by throwing out roots at the surface of the 
ground, when the main or center root is devoured by the 
larva; but in dry Aveather these surface roots find no 
nourishment and the plant must perish. 

"This year I saw these beetles most numerous in early 
spring, but have often seen them in August and Sep- 
tember, so abundant on cabbages, that the leaves were 
eaten full of holes, and all speckled from their presence, 
hundreds often being on a leaf; and at this time the 
entire turnip crop is sometimes destroyed by them, and 
seldom a year passes without their doing great injury. 
* * * As the Cucumber-beetle raises its young on the 
roots of the Gourd Family exclusively, I am led to believe 
that the Striped Turnip-beetle raises its young always on 
the roots of the Mustard Family." — [Dr. Henry Shimer, 
in "American Naturalist," December, 1868.] 

THE HARLEQUIN CABBAGE-BUG. 
{Strachia histrionica, Hahn.) 

Cabbage-growers in the North are apt to think, that 
the plant which they cultivate is about as badly infested 
by insects as it is possible for any crop to be, without be- 
ing utterly exterminated. No sooner are the young cab- 



38 



mJUEIOUS INSECTS 



bages above ground in the seed-bed, than they are often 
attacked by several species of Flea-beetles. By these 
jumping little pests the seed-leaves are frequently rid- 
dled so full of holes that the life of the plant is destroyed; 
and they do not confine themselves to the seed-leaves, 
but prey to a considerable extent also upon the young 
rough leaves. After the plants are set out, the larva of 
the very same insect is found upon the roots, in the form 
of a tiny elongate six-legged worm. Through the oper- 
ations of this subterranean foe, the young cabbages, es- 
pecially in hot dry weather, often wither away and die; 
and even if they escape this infliction, there is a whole 
host of cutworms ready to destroy them with a few snaps 
of their powerful jaws; and the common White G-rub, as 
we know by experience, will often do the very same thing. 
Suppose the unfortunate vegetable escapes all these 
dangers of the earlier period of its existence. At a more 
advanced stage in its life, the stem is burrowed into by 
the maggot of the Cabbage Fly {Anthomyia trassicce) — 
the sap is pumped out of the leaves in streams by myriads 
of minute Plant-lice covered with a whitish dust {Aphis 
hrassicce) — and the leaves themselves are riddled full of 
holes by the tiny larva of the Cabbage Tinea {Plutella 
cruciferarum), or devoured bodily by the large fleshy 
larvae of several different Owlet-moths. 

Severe as are these inflictions upon the Northern cab- 
bage-grower, there is an insect found in the Southern 
States that appears to be, if possible, still worse. This 
is the Harlequin Cabbage-bug {StracMa Mstrionica, 
Hahn, fig. 26, cl, which is enlarged, the line showing the 
real size), so called from the gay theatrical Harle- 
quin-like manner in which the black and yellow colors 
are arranged upon its body. The first account of the op- 
erations of this very pretty but unfortunately very mis- 
chievous bug appeared in the year 1866 from the able 
pen of the late Dr. G-ideon Lincecum, of Washington 



OF THE FAE:m: AXD GAEDEJiJ". 



39 



county, Texas, and were printed in the Practical En- 
tomologist" (vol. I, p. 110). His remarks are to the 
following effect : 

'•'The year before last they got into my garden, and 
utterly destroyed my cabbage, radishes, mustard, seed 
turnips, and every other cruciform plant. Last year I 
did not set any of that order of 23lants in my garden. 
But the present year, thinking they had probably left the 
premises, I planted my garden with radishes, mustard, 
and a variety of cabbages. By the first of April the mus- 
tard and radishes were large enough for use, and I dis- 
covered that the insect had commenced on them. I be- 
gan picking them off 
by hand and tramphng 
them under foot. By 
that means I have pre- 
served my four liundi'ed 
and thirty-four cab- 
bages, but I have visit- 
ed every one of them 
daily now for four 
months, finding on 
them from thirty-five 
to sixty fall-grown in- 
sects every day, some 
coupled and some in 
the act of depositing 
their eggs. Although many have been hatched in my 
garden the present season, I have suffered none to come 
to maturity; and the daily supplies of grown insects that 
I have been blessed with, are immigi-ants from some 
other garden. 

The perfect insect lives through the winter, and is 
ready to deposit its eggs (fig. 26, c,) as early as the fifteenth 
of March, and sooner, if it finds any cruciform plant large 
enough. They set their eggs on end in two rows, cemented 




40 



lifJURIOUS li^SECTS 



together, mostly on the under side of the leaf, and gener- 
ally from eleven to twelve in number. In about six days 
in April — four days in July — there hatches out from these 
eggs a brood of larvas (fig, 26, a,) resembling the perfect 
insect, but has no wings. Tliis brood immediately be- 
gins the work of destruction by piercing and sucking the 
Hfe-sap from the leaves; and in twelve days they have 
matured. They are timid, and will run off and hide be- 
hind the first leaf-stem, or any part of the plant that 
will answer the purpose. The leaf that they puncture 
immediately wilts. Half a dozen grown insects will kill 
a cabbage in a day. They continue through the sum- 
mer, and sufficient perfect insects survive the winter to 
insure a full crop of them for the coming season. 

" This tribe of insects do not seem liable to the attacks 
of any of the cannibal races, either in the egg state or any 
other stage. Our birds pay no attention to them, neither 
will the domestic fowls touch them. I have, as yet, 
found no way to get clear of them, but to pick them off 
by hand." 

It appears from this statement that there are at least 
two broods of the species every year, the first hatching 
out in April and the second in July; and as it is said 
that only sixteen or eighteen days elapse from the deposi- 
tion of the egg to the mature development of the perfect 
bug, it is not improbable that the species is in reality 
many-brooded. The eggs, of which we have specimens 
now before us, are about 0.03 inch in diameter, barrel- 
shaped, and of a green ish-v/hite color with two broad 
black bands encircling the staves of the barrel so as to 
look exactly like hoops. To afford a passage to the young 
larva, one of the heads of the barrel — the one, of course, 
that is not glued to the surface of the leaf — is detached 
by the beak of the little stranger as neatly and as 
smoothly as if a skillful cooper had been at work on it 
with his hammer and driver. And yet, instead of 



OF THE FARM AI^D GAKDEK. 



41 



employing years in acquiring the necessary skill, the 
mechanic that performs this delicate operation with un- 
erring precision, is actually not yet born into this sublu- 
nary world! 

Hitherto it had been generally supposed by entomolo- 
gists that the Harlequin Oabbage-bug was confined to the 
most southerly of the Southern States, such as Texas and 
Louisiana; and it has consequently been called by some 
^^the Texan Cabbage-bug," instead of translating the 
scientific name and calling it, as we haye done, '^the 
Harlequin Oabbaga-bug." In September, 1867, however, 
we received numerous living specimens from Dr. Sum- 
merer, of Salisbury, in N^orth Carolina; and from his ac- 
count it seems to be as great a pest in the gardens of that 
State as Dr. Lincecum describes it to be in Texas. 
Hence the species is most probably to be met with, in 
particular localities and in particular seasons, throughout 
the Southern States, at least as far north as Tennessee 
and Arkansas; and we should not be surprised if a few 
specimens were eventually to turn up in Southern Illi- 
nois, and in Southern Missouri. 

It is said that no criminal among the human race is 
so vile and depraved, that not one single redeeming 
feature can be discovered in his character. It is just so 
with this insect. Unlike the great majority of the ex- 
tensive group {Scutellera Family, Order of Half -winged 
Bugs) to which it belongs, it has no unsavory bed-buggy 
smell, but on the contrary exhales a faint odor which is 
rather pleasant than otherwise. We have already re- 
ferred to the beauty of its coloring. As offsets, therefore, 
to its greediness and its thievery, we have, first, the fact 
of its being agreeable to the nose, and secondly the fact 
of its being agreeable to the eye. Are there not certain 
demons in the garb of angels, oocasionally to be met with 
among the human species, in favor of whom no stronger 
arguments than the above can possibly be urged? 



42 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



CUCUMBER. 
THE STRIPED CUCUMBER-BEETLE. 

{Diabrotica vittata, Fabr.) 

The Striped Cucumber-Beetle is an insect which annu- 
ally destroys thousand of dollars' worth of vines in the 
United States, and for which remedies innumerable — 
some sensible, but the greater portion not worth the 
paper on which they are printed — are published CTery 
year in some of the agricultural papers. 

As everything pertaining to such a very common and 
destructive insect cannot be too often repeated, I will 
here relate its habits in the briefest manner. 

The parent beetles (fig. 27) make their appearance quite 
early in the season, when they immediately commence 
their work of destruction. They fre- 
quently penetrate through the cracks 
that are made by the swelling and 
s^^routing of the seeds of melons, cucum- 
Fig. 27.— sTEiPED hers, or squashes, aud by nipping off the 
CUCUMBER-BEETLE. ^^^^^ gprouts, dcstroy the plant before 
it is even out of the ground. 

Their subsequent work, when the vines have once 
pushed forth their leaves, is too well kno^Ti to need des- 
cription. Yet notwithstanding the great numbers and 
the persistency of these beetles, we finally succeed, with 
the proper perseverance and vigilance in nursing and 
protecting our vines, until we think they are large enough 
to withstand all attacks. Besides, by this time, the 
beetles actually begin to diminish in numbers, and we 
cono^ratulate ourselves on our success. But lol All of 
a sudden, many of our vines commence to wilt, and they 
finally die outright. No wound or injury is to be found 




OF THE FAEM Ai^D GAKDEK. 



43 



on the Yine above ground, and we are led to examine the 
roots. Here we discover the true cause of death, for the 
roots are found to be pierced here and there with small 
holes, and excoriated to such an extent that they present 
a corroded appearance. Upon a closer examination the 
authors of this mischief are easily detected, either im- 
bedded in the root, or lurking in some of the corroded 
furrows. They are little whitish worms, rather more 
than a third of an inch long, and as thick as a good-sized 
pin ; the head is blackish-brown and horuy, and there is 
a plate of the same color and 
consistency on the last seg- 
ment. These worms are in 
fact the young of the same 
Striped-Bug which had been 
so troublesome on the leaves 
earlier in the season; and 
that the insect may be as 
well known in this its masked 
form, as it is in the beetle 
state, I present the annexed 
highly-magnified figures of 
the worm (fig. 28) showing a 
back, and fig. 29 a side view. 
The beetles, while feasting 
themselves on the tender 
leaves of the vine, were also pairing, and these worms 
were hatched from the eggs deposited near the roots by 
the females. When the worms have become full-grown, 
which is in about a month after they hatch, they forsake 
the roots and retire into the adjoining earth, where each 
one, by continually turning around and around, and com- 
pacting the earth on all sides, forms for itself a little 
cavity, and in a few days throws olf its larva skin and 
becomes a pupa. This pupa is much shorter than was 
the worm, and the insect lasts in this state about 



18 I 



Fig. 28. LAKVA. 
BACK VIEW. 



Fig, 29. LARVA. 
SIDE VIEW. 



44 



li^JUEIOUS Il^SECTS 



two weeks, at the end of whicli time the skin is again 
moulted, and the perfect beetle form assumed. All 
the parts of this newly-developed beetle are at first soft, 
but after remaining motionless in its cell until these soft 
parts have acquired solidity and strength, it breaks 
through the walls of its prison and works itself up to the 
light of day. There are from two to three generations 
each year, the number varying according to the latitude, 
or the length of the winter. 

Of all the multifarious remedies proposed against the 
attacks of this insect, there is none so effectual or so 
cheap in the end, as inclosing the young vines in boxes, 
which are oj)ened at the bottom, and covered with milli- 
net on the top. Such boxes are made at a trivial cost, 
and if j^i'operly stored away each season after use, will 
last for many years. Whenever other remedies must 
from necessity be resorted to, there is nothing better than 
sprinkling the vines, early in the morning, with Paris 
G-reen and Flour (one part of the Green to four or five of 
flour), or with White Hellebore. It of course follows, 
that if the beetles are effectually kept off, there will 
afterwards be no worms at the roots. 

Much complaint has been made in various parts of the 
country, of the sudden death of cucumber and other cu- 
curbitaceous vines, from some unknown cause, and Henry 
Ward Beecher seems to have suffered in this manner, 
like the rest of us, but could find no worms in the roots 
of his vines. I know from experience that such vines 
are subject to a species of rot in the root, a rot not caused 
by insects, and for that reason the more serious, since we 
cannot tell how to prevent it. I have seen whole melon 
patches destroyed by this rotting of the roots, but in the 
great majority of instances where I have examined vines 
that had died from ^^some unknown cause," I have had 
no difiiculty in either finding the worms of the " Striped 
Bug" yet at work on the roots, else the unmistakable 



OF THE FAEM AN^D GAEDEK. 



45 



marks of their having been there. Indeed, by the time 
a yine dies from the effects of their gnawings and bur- 
rowings, the worms have generally become fully grown, 
and have hidden themselves in their little pupal cavities. 

So much for the two borers which have heretofore 
been known to attack plants belonging to the Gourd 
family. We have seen how they both bore into the roots 
of these plants, and how one of them in the perfect state 
attacks the leaves. No other borers have been known to 
attack these plants, though the 12-Spotted Diabrotica 
(D, l%-pu7ictata, fig. 30), may be found 
embedded in the rmd of both melons, 
cucumbers, and squashes. But we now 
come to a third insect which attacks 
plants of this same Gourd family. It Fig. 30.— 12-spot- 
neither bores into the root, nor devours i>iabrotica. 
the foliage, however, but seems to confine itself to the 
fruit; and I have called it the Pickle Worm, from the 
fact of its often being found in cucumbers that have 
been pickled. 

THE PICKLE WORM. 

(Phacellura nitidalis, Cramer.) 

At figure ^^1 is represented one of these worms, of 
the natural size. They vary much in appearance, some 
being of a yellowish-white, and very much resembling 
the inside of an unripe melon, while others are tinged 
more or less with green. They are all quite soft and 
translucent, and there is a transverse row of eight shiny, 
slightly elevated spots on each of the segments. Along 
the back and towards the head these spots are larger than 
at the sides, and each spot gives rise to a fine hair. The 
specimen from which I obtained my first moth was very 
light-colored, and these spots were so nearly the color of 
the body as to be scarcely yisible. The head was honey- 




46 



INJUEIOUS INSECTS 



yellow, bordered with, a brown line, and with three black 
confluent spots at the palpi. 

The worms commence to appear, in the latitude of St. 
Louis, about the middle of July, and they continue their 
destructive work till the end of September. They bore 
cylindrical holes into the fruit, and feed on its fleshy 
parts. They are gross feeders, and produce a large 
amount of soft excrement. I have found as many as f our 
in a medium-sized cucumber, and a single worm will 
often cause the fruit to rot. They develop very rapidly, 
and come to their growth in from three to four weeks. 
When about to transform, they forsake the fruit in 




Fig. 31. — PiCEXE WORM {PhaceV.ura nitidalis). — Larva. 

which they had burrowed, and drawing together portions 
of some leaf that lies on or near the ground, spin a light 
cocoon of white silk. Within this cocoon they soon be- 
come slender brown chrysalids, with the head parts i^ro- 
longed, and with a very long ventral sheath, which en- 
closes the legs. If it is not too late in the season, the 
moths issue in from eight to ten days afterwards. The 
late individuals, however, j)ass the winter within their 
cocoons, though, from the fact that some moths come 
out as late as November, I infer that they may also win- 
ter over in the moth state. 

The moth produced by this worm (of which figure 32 
represents the male) is very strikingly marked. It is 
of a yellowish-brown color, with an iris-purple reflection, 
the front wings having an irregular, semi-transparent, 
dull, golden-yellow spot, not reaching their front edge, 



OF THE FAEM AND GARDE^T. 



4^ 



and constricted at their lower edge, and the hind wings 
haying their inner two-thirds of this same semi-transpar- 
ent yellow. Tiie under surfaces have a more decided 
pearly lustre. The thighs, the breast, and the abdomen 
below, are all of a beautiful silvery- white, and the other 
joints of the long legs are of the same tawny or golden- 
yellow as the semi-transparent parts of the wings. The 
abdomen of the female terminates in a small, flattened 
black brush, squarely trimmed, and the segment directly 
preceding this brush is of a 
rust-brown color above. The 
corresponding segment in the 
male is, on the contrary, whit- 
ish anteriorly, and of the same 
color as the rest of the body 
posteriorly; and he is, more- 
over, at once distinguished from Fig. 32^^— moth op pickle 
the female by the immense worm. 
brush at his tail, which is generally much larger than re- 
presented in the above figure, and is composed of narrow, 
lengthened (ligulate) scales, which remind one of the 
petals of the common English Daisy, some of these scales 
being whitish, some orange, and others brown. This 
moth was described nearly a century ago by Cramer. 

The genus to which it belongs is characterized chiefly 
by the partly transparent wings, and by the immense 
scaly brush of the males. The antennae are long, fine, 
and thread-like, those of the male being very finely 
ciliated; the abdomen extends beyond the wings, and the 
legs are very long and slender. The species are for the 
most part exotic, and the larvae of all of them, so far as 
known, feed on cucurbitaceous plants. 

But our Pickle-worm is an indigenous species, and has, 
doubtless, existed in some part or other of the country, 
from time immemorial; and now that its habits are 
recorded, and its history made known, I should not be 




48 



IKJUEIOUS INSECTS 



at all surprised to learn that individuals have suffered 
from it in years gone by. The French Entomologist, 
Gruenee, gives as its food-plant, a species of potato, and 
it is just possible that it may not always have fed upon 
the same plants upon which it was first found in this 
country. At all events, let us hope that it will disappear 
as suddenly as it appeared; but should it occur again in 
great numbers, the foregoing account will enable those 
who grow melons, cucumbers, or squashes, to understand 
their enemy, and to nip the evil in the bud, by carefully 
overhauling their vines in the summer, a;nd destroying 
the first worms that appear, either by feeding the infested 
fruit to hogs or cattle, or by killing the worms on the 
spot. 

THE I^IELON-WORM. 

(PJiacellwa hyaUnatalis, Linn,) 

The Melon-worm is described by Prof. J. H. Comstock, 
in the Ee^^ortof the Department of Agriculture, for 1879, 
as eating cavities into melons, cucumbers, and pumpkins 
at all stages of growth, and also devouring their leaves. 
The perfect insect {FhaceUura liyalinatalis, also 
written Phahellura), has long been well known to 
entomological collectors from its beauty and abun- 
dance in certain localities; but has received almost 
no attention from economic workers. Guenee in giving 
its geographical distribution, says: Very common in all 
America. I have received it from Brazil, fi'om Columbia, 
from Hayti, from ^^"orth America, and from French 
Guiana." 

As to the food plant of the larva Guenee simply states 
that it lives upon the pumpkins, watermelons, and other 
cucurbitaceous plants. 

In the July, 1875, number of " Field and Forest " a short 



OF THE FAEM AND GARDEIf. 49 

account is given of the destruction of a large crop of 
cucumbers at Indian River, Florida, by these worms. It 
was stated that they first attacked the bud, then worked 
into the plant, and eventually killed them out, root and 
branch. The melon crop in parts of Georgia has been 
very seriously injured by its ravages; to what extent is 
vividly shown in the following account by Prof. J. E. 
Willet, of Macon; Ga. [The following are the essential 




Fig. 33. — MELON-WORM {Fhacelluva hyalinafaUs), 
Larva, Clirysalis, and Moth, closed and open. 



points of Prof. Willett's letter. He thus describes the 
appearance in three patches, in which melons had been 
planted for market. — Ed.] 

'^All presented the same scene of total destruction. 
Most of the vmes had been more or less denuded of leaves, 
and the remains of the leaves contained brown chrysalids 
or pnpcB webbed up " in them. The melons of various 
sizes were occupied in great measure by the worms. 
The younger worms were generally confined to the surface, 
but the older had penetrated to different depths. Some 
had excavated shallow cavities half an inch to an inch in 
diameter, and one-eighth of an inch in depth; and each 
3 



50 



IKJUEIOUS IKSECTS 



cavity was occupied by one or more worms. Others had 
penetrated perpendicularly into the melons, frequently 
beyond sight. None had reached the hollow of the 
melon, so far as I saw. The worms averaged probably 
half a dozen to each melon. The melon crops of these 
three market-gardens were a total loss. Another gardener 
told me that he had abandoned the culture of melons 
entirely, because of the ravages of the Melon-worm. 
Where cultivated in considerable numbers, the August 
and September crop of melons is very uncertain. The 
destruction is frequently quite complete, also, in private 
gardens. 

The Melon-worms are of alight yellowish-green color, 
nearly translucent, have a few scattered hairs, and, when 
mature, are about an inch and a quarter in length. 
They ^^web up" in the leaves of the melon, or of any 
plant growing near which has flexible leaves, forming a 
slender brown chrysalis three-quarters of an inch in 
length. Hundreds of these pupae were found rolled up 
in the leaves of the tomato and of the sweet-potato. 

" In passing through one of the patches referred to, 
numbers of small, beautiful moths rose from the grass 
and weeds. Their wings when extended measured an 
inch across, and were of an iridescent pearly whiteness, 
except a narrow black border. Their legs and bodies 
presented the same glistening whiteness, and the abdo- 
mens terminated in a curious movable tuft of white 
appendages like feathers, of a pretty buff color, tipped 
with white and black. These moths proved to be the 
mature melon-worms, which had emerged from the 
chrysalids referred to. 

" The melon- worms, their chrysalids, and moths, were 
forwarded to Prof. J. H. Comstock, Entomologist of the 
United States Agricultural Department, for indentifica- 
tion. He pronounced them to be Phacellura hyalinatalis, 
another species of the same genus as the Western pickle- 



OF THE FxVKM AKD GARDEN. 



51 



worm, Pliacellura nitidalis. The moth of the latter is 
somewhat smaller, and the ground color of the wings is a 
bronze yellow and the black border is broader. 

^^Much later in the season a few worms were found on 
cucumbers, and were pronounced by Professor Comstock 
to be melon-worms. A year preyious, in the summer of 
1878, I found a chrysalis webbed in a tomato leaf, and 
this chrysalis gave forth the same moth, as was found in 
1879 to issue from the melon-worm chrysalis. This worm 
had probably fed on the foliage of a pumpkin vine which 
ran near the tomato plant. 

^' The melon-worm, Pliacellura hyalinatalis, is known 
then to destroy musk-melons, cucumbers, and pumj^kins. 
Its cousin, the pickle-worm, Pliacellura nitidaUs, has 
been found here, but it remains to be determined whether 
it plays any part in the destruction of melons or of 
cucumbers in this locality. 

" Coefficient remedy for this has been discovered here. 
Some have tried placing each melon on a piece of plank, 
under the mistaken notion that the worms emerged from 
the earth. Paris green and London purple are objection- 
able, by reason of their poisonous properties. Professor 
Comstock has suggested to me a trial of the Persian 
insect-powder, Pyrethrum. Whatever remedy is employed 
it must be applied to the leaves as well as to the melons. 
The worms devour both foliage and fruit, and, if the 
fruit alone be protected, the foliage will be destroyed, 
the plants will cease to grow, and the melons will not 
come to maturity." 

The number of broods in a season has not been definitely 
ascertained. The insect mnters in the chrysalis state, 
spun up in the leaves of any neighboring tree or plant. 
They usually migrate to a greater or less distance from 
their feeding place before webbing up. At Rock Ledge, 
Fla., they were found abundantly webbed up on Palmetto 



52 



INJUKIOUS Il^^SECTS 



and Orange trees in a groye in which the so-called Indian 
pumpkins had grown. 

As regards remedies, Mr. J. S. Newman, of Atlanta, 
Ga.j states that the only one known to him is to plant 
early, the object being to pick the melons before the most 
destructive brood of the worms has appeared. It would 
undoubtedly be found profitable to keep a sharp lookout 
for the first brood of the worms, which will probably be 
found feeding upon the leaves and stems before the young 
melons have begun to form. These should be killed by 
hand. This could be readily done in patches compara- 
tively small in size, and we think will be found profitable 
in large gardens. 

Two species of parasitic insects have been reared from 
the specimens sent to the Department; one is Pimjyla 
conquisitor, an Ichneumon fly, which has proved very 
efficacious in the case of the cotton-worm; the other is a 
Tachina fly. Much is to be expected from the aid of 
these parasites. 



THE ONION. 

THE BLACK ONION-FLY. 

{Ortalis flexa^ Wied.) 

This insect was first described by Wiedemann in 1830. 
The fly (fig. 34) is about one-third of an inch in length, 
black, with three oblique white stripes on each wing. Mr. 
Henry Shimer, of Mount Carroll, 111., says, In the latter 
part of June, I first observed the larva or maggot among 
the onions here. The top dead, the bulb rotten, and the 
maggots in the decayed substance. From them I bred the 
fly. They passed about two weeks in the pupa state. At 



OE THE FAEM AJSTD GARDEi^. 



63 



tliat time I first observed the flies in the ^arden^ and now 
a few are to be found. Their favorite roosting place is a 
row of asparagus running along tlie onion-ground^ where 
they are easily captured and destroyed from daylight to 
sunrise^ while it is cool and wet. During the day they are 
scattered over the ground and on the leaves and stalks of 
the onions, and not easily captured. Their wings point 
obliquely backward, outwards and upwards, with an 




Fig. 34.— BLACK ONION-FLY {Ortalis Jlexo), 
Larva and Fly— real size shown by lines. 



irregular jerking, fanlike movement; flight not very 
rapid or prolonged. They are not very numerous, prob- 
ably not over two or three hundred. All that I observed 
originated in one part of the bed, where they were doubt- 
less deposited by one parent fly." Two broods appear in 
a season. 

THE IMPORTED ONION-FLY. 

(Anthomyia cepariim, Bouche.) 

The engravings (fig. 35,) show, a, larva; h, larva mag- 
nified; pupa; d, pupa magnified ; e, fly magnified. It is 
a terrible pest to the onion grower in the East, though 
it has not yet made its way out West. On the other 
hand, the Native American Onion-fly { Ortalis arcuata, 
Walker), which is a closely allied species and has almost 
exactly the same habits, has only been heard of in one or 



54 



IITJURIOUS lifSECTS 



two circumscribed localities in the AYest, and even there 
does comjiaratively but little damage. 

The Imported Onion Fly lays her eggs while the onions 
are small (in May and June), depositing them on the 
leaves near the surface of the ground. The maggots soon 
hatch and make their way down to the base of the young 
bulb, sometimes as many as two or three in a single 
onion: here they feed for about a fortnight, when they 
usually leave the bulb and turn into chestnut-colored 
pupae in the earth near by. In about two weeks the 




Fig. 35. — IMPORTED oi^iON-FLT {Anthomyia ceparum). 

a, Larva; Z), do. magnified ; c, Pnpa; (7, do. magnified; e, Fly, enlarged, real size 
shown by the lines below. 

second brood of flies issues from these pupae, to lay eggs 
and continue the destructive work. The eggs of the 
later broods are not usually deposited on the leaves, but 
on the bulb itself, close to the ground. 

Re:m:edies. — The onions attacked soon turn yellow, 
and should be removed from the bed at once; this, if 
thoroughly done, will get rid of the maggots that would 
develop into the next brood of flies. The sickly onions 
should be lifted with the aid of an old knife, to be sure 
and bring up the maggot with tlie onion; if they are 
simply pulled, the maggot may escape from the decayed 
bulb. Place these infested onions in a pail or other 
vessel from which the maggots can not escape, and burn 



OF THE FARM AND GARDEN. 



55 



them. Among special applications, soot has been found 
useful, and in England kerosene oil mixed with water in 
the proportion of half a pint to six gallons has been ap- 
plied to the plants from a watering-pot with a fine rose. 
Salt applied when the plants are three or four inches 
high, at the rate of three bushels to the acre, has been 
used by some of the Connecticut onion growers with 
benefit. 



PARSLEY AND EELATED PLANTS. 

In July, in the New England and Middle States, and 
earlier further South, there will be found upon Parsley 
especially, and sometimes upon other cultivated umbel- 
liferous plants, as the Carrot, Parsnip, and Celery, and also 
on Caraway, Fennel, etc., a showy caterpillar, known as the 

Parsley-worm." This, when full grown, is an inch and 
a half long, largest near the head and tapering behind; 
at this time the caterpillars are of a delicate apple-green 
color, paler at the sides, and on each segment, or ring of 
the body, is a band consisting of alternate bright-yellow 
and black spots. This coloring would be sufficient to 
identify the caterpillar, but if disturbed it at once arrests 
attention by appealing to the sense of smell, as it gives 
off, what has been called a scent," but is better de- 
scribed as a stench, which pervades the air for some dis- 
tance. This odor comes from a pair of soft, orange-col- 
ored horns, which are united below like a letter Y. These 
are projected from a slit just back of the head, and are 
not, as many have supposed, stings, but merely organs 
for diffusing this odor. They attain their full size late 
in September or early in October, when they seek some 
sheltered place on a fence or a building; hang themselves 
by a loop of silken threads and form greenish, yellowish. 



56 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



or asli-gray chryalids. They pass the winter in the chrys- 
alis state^ and the next summer appear as handsome 
" swallow-tailed" bnttei'flies. The butterfly has a spread 
of wing of three-and-one-half to four inches. The wings 
are black, with a row of yellow spots across them, and 
another row near the margin; the hind wings have each 
a tail-like appendage, seven blue spots between the two 
rows of yellow ones, and at the inner angle, an orange- 
colored spot with a black center. The female lays her 
eggs singly. 

Eemedies. — The caterpillar is most destructive upon 
Parsley and the related plants when grown for seed. 
They devour not only the foliage, but seem to be espec- 
ially fond of the flower-clusters, and of the young fruit 
or seeds. As with all other large and scattered cater- 
pillars, hand-picking is the most effective remedy. The 
butterfly is so handsome that it would not be supposed to 
be capable of mischief, but seed growers should encourage 
entomologists to make specimens of all they find. 



THE PEA. 
THE PEA-WEEVIL, 
(Bruchus pisi, Linn.) 

Our common garden Pea has not many insect enemies, 
for with the exception of the Striped Flea-beetle {Haltica 
striolata), which gnaws numerous small holes in the 
leaves, and the Corn-worm, alias Boll-worm {Heliothis 
armigera), which eats into the pod, there are very few 
others besides the Pea-weevil under consideration. This 
species alone is so numerous, however, as to be a serious 
drawback to pea culture in some parts of the country. 

The Pea- weevil, which is here illustrated (fig. 36 j. 



OF THE FARM AKD GARDEN. 



57 



showing a back yiew, and (fig. 37), a side view, the 
small outlines at the sides showing the natural size, is 
easily distinguished f]*oin all other species of the genus 
with which we are troubled, by its larger size, and by 
haying on the tip of the abdomen, projecting from the 
wing-coyers, two dark oyal spots, which cause the 
remaining white portion to look something like the letter 
T. It is about 0. 18 — 0. 20 inch long, and its general color 
is rusty-black, with more or less white on the wing- 
coyers, and a distinct white on the hinder part of the 
thorax, near the scutel. There is a notch on each lateral 
edge of the thorax, and a 
spine on the underside of 
the hind thighs near the 
apex. The four basal 
joints of the antennae, and 
the front and middle- 
shanks, and feet, are more 
or less tawny. It is sup- 
posed to be an indigenous 
North American insect, Fig. 36.-pea-weevil (Brwc/iws^isO. 

n ^ i • 1 «. Back yiew ; h, Pea with spot. 

and was first noticed 

many years ago around Philadelphia, from whence it has 
spread oyer most of the States where the pea is cultiyated. 
This supposition is probably the correct one, though we 
haye no means at present of proying it to be so, and cer- 
tain it is that, as the cultiyated pea was introduced into 
this country, our Pea-weeyil must haye originally fed on 
some other indigenous plant of the Pulse family. 

The Female Deposits Her Eggs on the Outside 
OF THE Pod. — It is a yery general remark that peas are 
''stung by the bug," and the impression preyails almost 
uniyersally, not only among gardeners, but with many 
entomologists, that the female weeyil punctures and 
deposits her eggs in the pea, in which the larya is to be 
nourished. It is a little singular that so many writers 




58 



IKJUEIOUS INSECTS 



should have fallen into this error, for it is not only the 
accepted view with some writers for the agricultural 
press, but has been adopted by many eminent entomolo- 
gists. All this comes of course from one man's palming 
off the opinions of another as his own, whether good or 
bad, without due credit. 

The true natural history of the Pea-weevil may be 
thus briefly told. The beetles begin to appear as soon as 
our peas are in bloom, and when the young pods form, 
the female beetles gather upon them, and deposit their 
eggs on any part whatever of the surface, without 
attempting to insert the eggs within the pod. 

The eggs, which are of a deep yellow, 0.035-inch 
long, are three times as long as wide, pointed in front, 

m 




Fig. 37.— PEA-WEEVIL. 
b. Side View ; c, Larva : d. Pupa. 



blunt behind, but larger anteriorly than posteriorly. 
They are fastened to the pod by some viscid fluid, which 
dries white, and glistens like silk. As the operation of 
depositing is only occasionally noticed during cloudy 
weather, we may safely assume that it takes place for the 
most part by night. If pea vines are carefully examined 
any time during the month of June, the pods will often 
be found to have from one to fifteen or twenty such eggs 
upon them, and the black head of the future larva may 
frequently be noticed through the delicate shell. 

As already stated, the eggs are deposited on all parts of 



or THE FAEM AI^D GARDEI^. 



59 



the i^od, and the mother beetle displays no particular 
sagacity in the number which she consigns to each^ for I 
have often counted twice as many eggs as there were 
young peas, and the larvae from some of these eggs, would 
of course have to perish, as only one can be fully 
developed in each pea. The newly hatched larva is of a 
deep yellow color, with a black head, and it makes a 
direct cut through the pod into the nearest pea, the hole 
soon filling up in the pod, and leaving but a mere speck, 
not so large as a pin hole, in the pea. The larva feeds 
and grows apace, and generally avoids the germ of the 
future sprout, perhaps because it is distasteful, so that 
most of the buggy peas will germiuate as readily as 
those that have been untouched. When full grown, this 
larva presents the appearance of figure 37, c, and Avith 
wonderful precognition *of its future wants, eats a 
circular hole on one side of the pea, and leaves only the 
thin hull as a covering. It then retires, and lines its 
cell with a thin and smooth layer of paste, pushing aside 
and eutirely excluding all excrement, and in this cell it 
assumes the j^upa state, (fig. 37, f/,) and eventually 
becomes a beetle, which, when ready to issue, has only to 
eat its way through the thin piece of the hull, which the 
larva had left covering the hole. It has been proved that 
the beetle would die if it had not during its larval life 
prepared this passage way, for Earnest Menault asserts 
that the beetle dies when the hole is pasted over with a 
piece of paper, even thinner than the hull itself. 

Remedies aj^d Preyektives. — Sometimes, and 
especially when the summer has been hot and prolonged, 
many of the beetles will issue from the peas in the fall of 
the same year that they were born, but as a more general 
rule they remain in the peas during winter, and do not 
issue till new vines are gi'owing. Thus many yet remain 
in the seed peas until they are planted, and especially is 



60 



IKJUEIOUS INSECTS 



this apt to be the case with such as- are planted early. 
We see, therefore, how easily this insect may be intro- 
duced into districts previously free from it, by the care- 
less planting of buggy peas, for it has been demonstrated 
that the beetle issues as readily from peas planted in the 
earth, as it does from those stored away in the bin. All 
peas intended for seed should be examined, and ifc can 
very soon be determined whether or not they are infested. 
The thin covering over the hole of the peas that contain 
weevils, and which may be called the eye-spot, is 
generally somewhat discolored, and by this eye-spot, 
those peas which ought not to be planted, can soon be 
distinguished. "Where this covering is off, and the pea 
presents the appearance of fig. 36, l, there is little danger, 
for in that case the weevil has either left, or, if still 
within the pea, is usually dead. It would of course be 
tedious to carefully examine a large lot of peas, one by 
oiie, in order to separate those that are buggy, and the 
most expeditious way of separating the sound from the 
unsound, is to throw them into water, when the sound 
ones will mostly sink, and the unsound swim. 

There are, however, other and more certain means of 
preventing the injuries of this insect, and whenever 
agriculture shall have progressed to that point, where by 
proper and thorougli organization, all the farmers of a 
county or of a district can, by vote, mutually agree to 
carry out a measure with determination, and unison, then 
this insect can soon be exterminated; for it is easy to 
perceive that such a result would be accomplished by 
combinedly ceasing to cultivate any peas at all, for one 
single year! Until some such united action can be 
brought about, we shall never become entirely exempt 
from this insect's depredations, for no matter how sound 
the peas may be that I plant, my vines are sure to be 
more or less visited by the beetles, as long as I have 
slovenly neighbors. Yet^ comparatively, my peas will 



OF THE FARM AKD GARDEN. 61 

always be euough better to pay well for the trouble, even 
under these circumstances. 



EADISH. 

The same insects that attack young cabbage plants and 
the turnips infest the Radish. In some localities it is 
almost impossible to grow radishes of a size fit for the 
table before they are so much injured by a small maggot 
as to be useless. These maggots appear to be the larvae 
of a fly {Anthomyia), closely related to those so destruc- 
tive to tlie onion. (See Onion Flies). The False Chinch 
Bug (JVysius devastator), troublesome in some of the 
Western States, attacks the leaves of the Radish as well as 
those of other plants of the same family. 



SQUASH AND PUMPKIN. 

The Squash and Pumpkin belong to the same family 
of plauts (the Gourd Family, Cucuvlitacem) with the 
Cucumber and Melon, and most of the insects that infest 
those may often be found upon them, especially while 
the plants are young, at which time they need the pro- 
tection from the Striped-beetle, etc., mentioned under 
Cucumber and Melon. 

THE SQUASH-BUG. 

{Anam [formerly Coreu8\ tristis, Degeer.) 

For this insect the name, Squash Bug, is scientifically 
correct, as it belongs to the true bugs, with the Chinch, 
Bed, and other unpleasant bugs. (See Hemiptera, in 



62 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 




IntroductioD.) About the last of June (in the North- 
ern States), these insects come out from their hiding 
places, pair, and lay their eggs. The parent insect (fig. 
38,) is a little over half an inch ('/^ J in length, rusty- 
black above, and ochre-yellowish beneath. The ground 
color of the upper parts is ochre-yellow, but concealed 
by multitudes of minute black dots. A marked charac- 
ter of this insect is the odor it gives off when handled or 
disturbed; this odor has been compared to *^that of an 
over-ripe pear," but we have never seen a pear sufficient- 
ly over-ripe" to approach in its repulsiveness the sick- 
ening odor given off by the Squash-bug. It 
is one of those odors of which a very little 
satisfies. The insects are quiet during the 
day, but at night lay their eggs in little 
patches ; they are of a brownish-yellow color, 
and glued to the leaves. They soon hatch, 
and the larva?, or young bugs, are of a pale- 
squaI'h-bug. ash color, and of a more rounded shape 
{Anasa t) mhs.) than the perfect insects. As they grow 
older they moult their skins several times, forming no 
dormant pupae, but finally assume the shape of the per- 
fect bug. The young at first remain in small swarms or 
clusters, near the place they were hatched, but finally 
scatter to other leaves; in all stages they penetrate the 
leaves with their beaks, live upon their juices, and cause 
them to become brown, wither, and finally to die. As 
soon as a leaf is exhausted, they pass on to fresher ones, 
and where numerous, the insects are very destructive. 

Kemedies. — ^s"one of our injurious insects is more 
readily kept under control than this by hand-picking. If 
one familiar with the appearance of the bug, will exam- 
ine the young vines and the ground beneath them, those 
that come from their winter quarters may be found and 
destroyed before they have laid their eggs. Next the 
eggs, which are conspicuous upon the underside of the 



OF THE FARM AND GARDEN". 



63 



leaves, on account of their color and large size, may be 
cruslied between the thumb and finger. If any of the 
patches of eggs have been allowed to hatch, the habit of 
the young bugs to stay around in clusters, allows these to 
be readily destroyed. If any have escaped destruction in 
these early stages, an examination of the vines, after the 
insects have scattered, will allow of their being gathered 
and destroyed before they can go into winter quarters. 

THE l^POTTED SQUASH-BEETLE. 
(Diabrotica 12-punctata, Fabr.) 

This beetle is own brother to the Striped-Beetle {D. 
vittata), already described under Cucumbers. While the 
colors are much the same, this (see fig. 30, p. 45) is much 
broader, and instead of having its black marks in lines, 
they are in dots, 12 in all, upon the wing covers. It is, 
fortunately, not very common, but where it occurs, it is 
most destructive. It seems to take special delight in 
eating through the strong ribs of the leaves, near where 
they are attached to the leaf-stalk, thus allowing the rest 
of the leaf to fall down and wither. Hand-i^icking has 
hitherto been relied upon, but if in great numbers, Paris 
Green may be used. 

THE SQUASH-BORER. 
{JEgeria [Trochilium] cucurbitce.) 

At midsummer, or soon after, in the Eastern States, 
especially, large and vigorous Squash-vines are seen to 
suddenly wilt and die without apparent cause. Upon a 
careful examination of the vine near the root, by split- 
ting it lengthwise, there will generally be found a cater- 
pillar, and if the exterior of the vine be carefully exam- 
ined, probably the wound caused by the entrance of the 



64 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



young borer may be discovered. This Squasli-yine Borer 
is the larval state of an insect of the same genus as tlie 
borer of the Peach Tree. The perfect insect (fig. 39,) 
has an orange-colored body; its fore -wings are black, and 
the hind ones transparent, and the hind pair of legs are 
fringed with long orange and black hairs. The female 
deposits her eggs upon the vine near the root, at any 

time from June to August. 
The young larva at once pene- 
trates to the interior of the 
stem, and eats and grows, until 
the connection between the up- 
per part and the root being 
destroyed, the vine dies. The 
Fig. 39.-MOTH OF SQUASH- f ull-gTowu larva enters the 
YiNE BORER. carth, forms a rude cocoon by 

gluing particles of earth together, and remains in the 
pupa state until time to begin its work of mischief the 
next season. 

Eemedies. — The difficulty with the Squash-vine Borer 
consists in the fact that its presence is not made known 
by the wilting of the vines until the mischief has been 
done. Among other methods that have been suggested, 
is the placing sheets of the sticky fly-paper ('^^Catch'em 
Alive, Oh!") about the vines, to capture the parent in- 
sect. If these are seen flitting around the vines, they 
should be caught by means of a net. If the moths have 
been seen around the vines, these should be closely ex- 
amined for eggs and for the wounds made by the young 
larvse in entering the stem; if found, while still young, 
they may be carefully cut out, without material injury 
to the vine. If the vine dies from the presence of bor- 
ers, search should -be made for the larva, that it may be 
destroyed, and prevent an increase. Among preventives 
it has been suggested that, as the insect deposits her egg 
upon the stem near the root of the vine, the covering 




OF THE FARM AND GARDEN. 



65 



slightly with earth of several lower joints of the plants 
AYill be effective. A similar treatment has been fonnd 
useful with the related Peach-tree Borer, and is worth 
bearing in mind if the Squash Borer is apprehended. 



THE TOMATO. 

The Tomato, belonging to the same botanical family 
as the Potato, is attacked by several of the insects that 
feed upon that plant, and it is not necessary to give a 
separate description of them. When the plants are first 
set out in the spring, they are sometimes cut off by the 
greasy Cut-worm, the larva of Agrotis telifera, Harris. 
This cut-worm is a general feeder, and destroys whatever 
plants it may come across. The holes of the worms 
should be searched for, and the tenants destroyed. 
Wrapping a piece of paper around the lower part of the 
stem of each plant, allowing the lower edge to be below 
the su]-face of the earth, while the other edge extends an 
inch or two above it, will prevent their attacks. 

The Stalk Borer of the Potato, and the Colorado 
Beetle, occasionally attack the Tomato. These are 
described under Potato. The most injurious insect to 
the Tomato, is the large green Caterpillar, of Sphinx 
quinque maculata, which is called both " Tomato," and 
"Potato Worm," (See Potato). This voracious feeder 
will soon strip a plant of its foliage, and even eat the 
young fruit. Where tomatoes are trained to a trellis, as 
they always should be in garden culture, the abundant 
droppings upon the ground will indicate its presence, 
and it should be sought for at once. Being so nearly of 
the same color as the stems of the plant, it might escape 



66 



INJURIOUS Il^SECTS. 



notice, did not its droppings betray it. Hand picking — 
and it is perfectly harmless — is the remedy. 

The Caterpillar of the Corn, or Boll- worm {Heliothis 
arinigera), besides doing vast injury to Indian Corn, and 
to Cotton, feeds on many other plants. In some of the 




Fig. iO.— BOLL- WORM {Heliothis armigera) feedeng upon tomato. 

Western States, it has proved a great pest to the Tomato 
grower, eating into the green fruit, and causing it to rot. 
Figure 40 shows this Caterpillar attacking the Tomato. 
This insect is described under Indian Corn. 



Insects Injurious to Root Crops and Indian Corn. 



BEET AND MANGEL WUEZEL. 

While there are several insects injurious to the Beet, 
especially the Sugar Beet in Europe, this crop has been 
thus far singularly free from insect enemies in this 
country. Even the all -devouring Western Grass-hopper 
often leaves the Beets untouched; while the White Grub 
{Lachnostenia), makes no such exception, and is some- 
times very troublesome. (See White Grub). In Eng- 
land, the larva of the Beet Carrion Beetle (Silpha opaca, 
Linn. ), has occasionally destroyed crops by feeding on 
the leaves, but little seems to be known about it. A fly 
{Antliomyia hetce, Curtis), is often destructive to the 
Beet and Mangel in Europe, and a few cases have been 
reported of its appearance in this country in 1881. This 
insect is a near relative of the Onion Fly (See Onioi^), 
its larvae burrowing in numbers in the pulpy matter of 
the leaf. When a leaf wilts, the larvae, about a third of 
an inch long, may be seen, if present, by holding the 
leaf up to the light. The only remedy thus far suggested 
is, to remove all leaves that show signs of flagging, and 
destroy them before the maggots can transform to flies. 



INDIAN COEN. 

While there are a few insects that especially attack this 
important crop, it also receives attention from the gener- 
ally destructive insects. In those localities where the 
67 



68 



mJUEIOUS INSECTS 



Army Worm is abundant, or in those that are in the range 
of the destructive Western Grass-hoj)per, corn, of course, 
suffers in common with other i^lants. It also is attacked 
by the White Grub, and by several of the Cut Worms. 

THE CORN-WORM, alias BOLL-WORM. 
(Heliothis armigera, Hubner.) 

The Boll-worm " has become a by- word in all the 
Southern cotton-growing States, and the Corn-worm" 
is a like familiar term in those States, as well as in many 




Fig. 41. — CORN OK BOLL, WOKM. 
a. Larva ; b. Mutb, Wings open ; c, Motli, Wings closed. 

other parts of the Union; but few persons suspect that 
these two worms — :the one feeding on the corn, the other 
on the cotton-boll — are identically the same insect, pro- 
ducing exactly the same species of moth. But such is 
the fact, as I myself experimentally proved in 1864. It 
attacks corn in the ear, at first feeding on the " silk/' 
but afterwards devourmg the kernels at the terminal end; 
being securely sheltered the while within the husk. I 
have seen whole fields of corn nearly ruined in this way, 
in the State of Kentucky, but nowhere have I known it 



OF THE FAEM AKD GARDEIST. 



69 



to be so destructiYe as in Southern Illinois. Here, as in 
onr own State, there are two broods of the worms dnring 
the year, and yery early and very late corn fare the worst; 
moderately late and moderately early varieties usually es- 
caping. I was formerly of the opinion that this worm 
could not live on hard corn, and it certainly does disap- 
pear before the corn fully ripens, but last fall Mr. James 
Harkness, of St. Louis, brought me, as late as the latter 
part of October, from a corn field on the Illinois bottom, 
a number of large and well ripened ears, each containing 
from one to five worms of different sizes, subsisting and 
flourishing on the hard kernels. This is, however, an 
exceptional occurrence, brought about, no doubt, by the 
long protracted warm weather which we had, and the 
worms were in all probability a third brood. 

This glutton is not even satisfied wdth ravaging these 
two great staples of the country — cotton and corn — but, 
as I discovered, in 1867, it attacks the tomato in South- 
ern Illinois, eating into the gi'een fruit, and thereby 
causing such fruit to rot. (See Tomato, p. 66). Mr. 
Glover also found it feeding in a young pumpkin, and it 
has been ascertained by Mrs. Mary Treat, of Vineland, 
New Jersey, not only to feed upon the undeveloped tas- 
sels of corn and upon green peas, but to bore into the 
stems of the garden flower known as Gladiolus, and in 
confinement to eat ripe tomatoes, last summer it was also 
found by Miss M. E. Murtfeldt on common string beans, 
around Kirkwood. 

But for the present we will consider this insect only in 
the role of Corn-worm, because as such it interests the 
practical man most deeply. 

This insect is very variable in the larva state, the 
young worms varying in color from pale-green to dark- 
brown. When full grown there is more uniformity in 
this respect, though the diflerence is often sufficiently 
great to cause them to look like distinct insects. Yet the 



70 



INJUEIOUS INSECTS 



same pattern is observable, no matter what may be the 
general color; the body being marked as in figure 41, 
with longitudinal light and dark lines, and covered 
with black spots which give rise to soft hairs. Those 
worms that Mrs. Treat found on green peas and upon 
corn tassels, had these lines and dots so obscurely repre- 
sented that they seemed to be of a uniform green or 
brown color, and the specimens which I saw last summer 
on string beans were also of a dark glass-green color, with 
the spots inconspicuous, but with the stripe below the 
breathing pores quite conspicuous and yellow. The head, 
however, remains quite constant and characteristic. Fig- 
ure 40 may be taken as a specimen of the light variety, 
and figure 41 , a, as illustrating the dark variety. When 
full grown, the worm descends into the ground, and there 
forms an oval cocoon of earth interwoven with silk, 
wherein it changes to a bright chestnut-brown chrysalis, 
provided with four thorns at the extremity of the body, 
the two middle ones being stouter than the others. After 
remaining in the chrysalis state from three or four weeks, 
the moth makes its escape. In this last and perfect 
stage, the insect is also quite variable in depth of shading, 
but the more common color of the front wings is pale 
clay-yellow, with a faint greenish tint, and they are 
marked and variegated with pale-olive and rufous, as in 
figure 41 {Jb showing the wings expanded, and c represent- 
ing them closed), a dark spot near the middle of each 
wing being very conspicuous. The hind wings are paler 
than the front wings, and invariably have along the outer 
margin a dark brown band, interrupted about the mid- 
dle by a large pale spot. 

In 1860 — the year of the great drouth in Kansas — the 
corn crop in that State was almost entirely ruined by the 
Corn-worm. According to the Prairie Farmer," of 
January 31, 1861, one county there which raised 436,000 
bushels of corn in 1859, only produced 5,000 bushels 



OF THE FARM AND GARDEN. 



n 



of poor wormy stuff in 1860, and this, we are told, was 
a fair sample of most of the counties in Kansas. The 
damage done was not by any means confined to the grain 
actually eaten by the worm; but ^'^the ends of the ears of 
corn, when partially devoured and left by this worm, af- 
fords a secure retreat for hundreds of small insects, 
which, under cover of the husk, finish the work of des- 
truction commenced by the worm, eating holes in the 
grain or loosening them from the cob. A species of green- 
ish-brown mould or fungus grew likewise in such situa- 
tions, it appearing that the dampness from the exuded 
sap favored such a growth. Thus decay and destruction 
rapidly progressed, hidden by the husk from the eye of 
the unsuspecting farmer." It appears also that many 
horses in Kansas subsequently died from disease occa- 
sioned by eating this half-rotten wormy corn. 

Eemedy. — It is the general experience that this worm 
does more injury to very early and very late corn than to 
that which ripens intermediately, for though the broods 
connect by late individuals of the first and early individ- 
uals of the second, there is nevertheless a period about 
the time the bulk of our corn is ripening, when the 
worms are quite scarce. I have never yet observed their 
work on the green tassel, as it has been observed in 
New Jersey, and do not believe that they do so work with 
us. Consequently it would avail nothing as a preventive 
measure, to break off and destroy the tassel, and the 
only remedy when they infest corn is to kill them by 
hand. By going over a field when the ears are in silk^ 
the presence of the worms can be detected by the silk be- 
ing prematurely dry, or by its being partially eaten. 

In the cotton fields large numbers of the moths have 
been caught by means of lamps or lanterns, so arranged 
that the insect, when attracted by the light, will fall into 
the water or other liquid. Wherever the moth is abun- 
dant among the corn, it may be^ worth while to try this. 



73 



lis JURIOUS IXSECTS 



THE SEED-CORN ^lAaGOT. 




Fig. 42. — SEED-COEN MAGMJOT, 
a, Larva ■ t, Pupa. 



{Anthomyia zeas, Riley). 

This maggot is shown, enlarged, at figure 4z2, a, the 
line directly underneath givmg the natural size. It 
grGatly resembles the Onion mag- 
gots, which are known to attack 
the onion in this country, and its 
work on corn is similar to that of 
this last named maggot on the 
onion: for it excoriates and gnaws 
into the seed-corn as shown in 
figtire 43, and finally causes such seed to rot. 

After having become full fed, these maggots usually 
leave the kernels for the surrounding earth, where they 
contract into smooth, hard, light-brown pupas, of the 
size and form of fig. 42, d, and in about a week afterwards 
the perfect fly pushes open a little cap at the anterior 
end, and issues forth to the light of day. In this state 
it is a two-winged fly belonging to the Order I)ij)tera. and 
quite inconspicuous in its markings and a23pearance. 

It is difficult to suggest a remedy for this pest, as its 
presence is not observed before the mischief is done. 
Hot water has been found ef- 
fectual in killing the Onion 
maggot, without injuring the 
onions, and would doubtless 
prove as effectual for this Corn 
maggot, where a few hills of 
some choice variety are attack- 
ed, which it is very desirable to save. But its application 
in a large field, even if one knew where to apply it, would 
be impracticable, and I can only suggest soaking the seed 
before planting, in gas-tar or copperas, and hope that the 
experiment will be tried by those of our Eastern friends 
who have suffered from this maggot. 




Fig. 4S.— MAG&OTS A.T WORK. 



OF THE FARM AXD GAEDEK. 



73 



Some species are sucli general feeders that, in group- 
ing insects according to the plants to which they are in- 
jurious, it becomes difficult to place them. The corn- 
grower, the vegetable gardener, the grower of small 
fruits, the owner of lawns and pastures, and even the 
nurseryman, may each at times properly look upon the 
White Grub as his worst insect enemy. The Cut-worms 
and Wire-worms, though less generally destructive, are 
injurious to very unlike plants, while the False Wire- 
worms are in this country, especially, known for the in- 
jury they have done to lilies, carnations, and to the potato 
crop. We place these general feeding insects here, for 
convenience, and shall refer to them in treating of the 
plants to which they are especially injurious. 



THE WHITE GRUB. 
(Lachnosterna fusca, Frohl). 

Perhaps no destructive insect is better known than 
this in its larval as well as in its perfect state, by those 
who live in the country, yet comparatively few are aware 
that the frequent White Grub and the familiar May-bug, 
or June-bug, or Dor-bug, are different forms of the same 
insect. In the months of May and June, attracted by 
the light, these beetles often make their way into the 
house, and by the noise they make in buzzing about and 
knocking themselves against the walls and ceiling, often 
alarm nervous persons. The few that thus enter the 
dwelling are merely indications that vast swarms are 
upon the trees at no great distance without. Unlike 
some beetles, this is a voracious feeder in its perfect state, 
and is destructive to trees, sometimes completely denud- 
ing them of their foliage, without the cause being dis- 
covered, as the beetle is active only at night. Fruit and 
4 



74 



IKJUEIOFS II^SECTS 



ornamental trees, as well as forest trees, appear to be at- 
tacked indiscriminately. They remain in the beetle state 
but a short time, and the damage they do is small as 
compared with that which they infiict in 
their j^rolonged grub state. The beetle 
is about an inch long, of the shape 
shown in figure 44; its legs are long and 
slender, with sharp claws, by which it 
can hold readily to the foliage, etc. ; it 
is of a dark-chestnut color, and covered 
Tig. 44. with, minute dots; each wing-cover has 
jmE-BUG. ^^^^ three slighly elevated longitudinal 
lines, and the breast is covered with a yellowish down. 
If the small feelers be examined, the knob at the end 
will be found to consist of three leaf-like plates. 

Soon after pairing the female enters the earth to the 
dei)th of a few inches, she there deposits forty or fifty 
eggs, and soon dies. The eggs liatch in about a month, 
and as the grubs are at first quite small, but little is 
known of their history during their first year, but they 
no doubt subsist upon any small roots they may come 
across. In the second year they are large enough to make 
their presence felt; they then work near the surface, and 
it seems to make little difference what kind of root they 
meet with, it is cut off a short distance below the surface of 
the ground, and the plant wilts and 
dies. This happens to Indian corn, 
to grass, to tender lettuce in the gar- 
den, and the woody roots of young 
fruit trees in the nursery, as well as 
to the more tender ones of the Straw- 
berry; besides, it often revels in the Yig. 45.— white gkhb. 
tubers of the potato, making the 
crop fit only for the pigs; it also does mischief in the 
flower garden — indeed, no live root seems to come amiss 
to this general feeder. The grub is full-grown in the 





OF THE FARil AND GARDEN". 



75 



spring of the third year (some say the fourth), and is 
then sometimes as large as one's little finger, of the shape 
shown in figure 45. It is soft, dirty-white, and has a ma- 
hogany-colored head, and is usually found with its body 
curved in a semicircle, though it can straighten itself out 
and crawl slowly. In the third year they form a some- 
what egg-shaped chamber, by sticking the particles of 
earth together by means of an adliesive fiuid, within 
which they assume the pupa state. These earthen co- 
coons are shown in figure 46, entire, and in figure 47 
cut open, showing the pupa wdthin. In May, or in 
many localities not until June, the change into the per- 
fect beetle is completed. Such is, in brief, the natural 




Fig. 40.— COCOON. Fig 47.— pupa. 



history of the White Grub, which in most respects resem- 
bles that of a related insect, equally destructiye to the 
vegetation of Europe, Melolontha vulgaris^ known in 
England as Cockchafer, and in France as Hanneton, 
which in the last-named country causes such losses that 
various prizes for efficient means for its destruction have 
been offered, but not awarded. 

It should be stated that a larva of similar size and ap- 
pearance to the White Grub is often found in manure 
heaps, and farmers, supposing them to be identical, fear 
to cause trouble by using the manure. This grub, known 
as the Muck- worm, is the larva of a different beetle 
(Li gyrus), and as it feeds only upon decayed vegetable 
matter, can do no damage to the crops; at most it can 
only consume a little manure. It has a lead-colored ap- 



76 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



pearance, for its whole length, due to the contents of its 
intestines, which show through the skin; the V\'hite Grub 
shows this dark color only near the tail end. 

Eemedies. — The beetle — As many insects are not in- 
jurious in their perfect form, the June-bug has not gen- 
erally been regarded as harmful. As it is a destructive 
feeder in its beetle state, it should be destroyed not only 
for the mischief it may do as a beetle, but for the pre- 
vention of its progeny. Those that enter the house 
should be caught and killed. In each locality the insect 
is usually more numerous than at other times, once in 
three years. When the trees in which they harbor are dis- 




Fig. 48. — LANTEKN TKAP FOR THE JUNE-BUG. 



covered, large numbers may be destroyed by placing 
sheets beneath the trees, and in early morning, when they 
are torpid, the beetles may be shaken from the trees, 
gathered, and destroyed. As it is only in the perfect state 
that any effective war can be waged against the White 
Grub, every method should be employed to kill as many 
beetles as possible. That which promises to be most ef- 
fective is, to take advantage of the fact that they are 
attracted by light, and to set traps for them. A simple 
form is to place a lamp in a tub, made by sawing a barrel 
in halves, in the bottom of which is a few inches of water. 



OF THE FARM Ai^D GARDEN. 



7"? 



Seyeral lanterns have been especially devised wiiicli, by 
throwing a strong light, will attract the insects. That 
shown in fignre 48 is a French device, modified by a 
distinguished American horticulturist. It consists of a 
square glass lantern, at each side of which is a flaring tin 
reflector. At the lower side of each reflector, near the 
glass, is a longitudinal opening. The lantern is set upon 
a cask or tub m which there is some water. The insects, 
attracted by the light, fly towards it, and striking the 
glass fall down through the opening into the water.. 
This has been found very effective. It would no doubt 
be well to place upon the water a little kerosene, just a 
thin film, enough to cover each insect as it falls in. 

The Grub. — In Europe, with the related grub, the 
habits of which are like those of ours, the employment of 
children to follow the plow to pick up the larvae as they 
are exposed, has been found the only efiicient method. 
It is probable that i^igs and ducks might be made useful 
in a similar manner. 

In gardens, when a vegetable, a fruit, especially the 
strawberry, or a flower, is observed to suddenly wilt and 
droop, it should at once be lifted, with the surrounding 
earth, and the grub sought for and destroyed. The 
grubs sometimes cut the roots of the gTass in lawns to 
such an extent that the turf may be rolled up like a rug. 
Of course there is no remedy, but to j^revent further 
trouble the grubs should be picked up, and they are 
sometimes gathered by the bushel, before re-seeding the 
lawn. Pastures, in which the grub is j)resent in large 
numbers, should be given over to the swine, which will 
soon dispose of them. 

^STATURAL Eemedies. — Chief among these is the much 
abused Crow, which is most efficient in discovering these 
grubs and destroying them in grass lands; by some in- 
stinct they discover the hidden enemy, and many of 



78 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



these birds will regularly visit an infested lawn or pas- 
ture every morning and prosecute their beneficial work. 
It is not unlikely that much of the corn pulling for which 
these and other birds are blamed is done in the search 
for these grubs. The Skunk is very fond of the beetles 
and destroys large numbers of them. In a number of 
localities in Ohio, Iowa, and Missouri, AYhite Grubs have 
been found with a long horn protruding from each side 
of the head, as in figure 49. These horns " do not 
properly belong to the grub, but are really vegetable para- 




Fig. i9.— WHITE GKUB WITH PAKASITIC FUNGUS. 



sites, being a kind of fungus. The occurrence of fungi 
upon other grubs in some Oriental countries has long 
been known, and the occasional abundance of this upon 
our native pest, encourages the hope that here may be 
found an important aid to the cultivator. At all events, 
grubs found with these horn-like appendages should not 
be destroyed, but left with the hope that the beneficial 
vegetable may be propagated and become common. 

THE CUT- WORMS. 

Among the greatest enemies to the Corn crop, esp. - 
ially in its young state, are the Cut-worms, though their 
attacks are by no means confined to this plant, but they 
feed upon a great number of cultivated plants, cutting 
them off near the surface of the ground. It is a compar- 
atively recent discovery that some of these worms, for- 



OF THE FARM AJ^D GARDEN. 



79 



meiiy supposed to feed only on the ground, climb fruit 
trees and injure their buds. These are mentioned under 
^•Insects Injurious to Fruit Trees." The name Cut- 
worm is sometimes incorrectly applied to the White 
Grub, the larva of the May or June-bug, and also to the 
Wire-worms. The proper Out-worms are the larvae of 
several night-flying moths, of the genus Agrotis, and of 
some allied genera, but as tlieir habits are much alike, a 
description of one will answer in a general way for all. 
Related species are destructive in England, where they 
are known as " Surface Caterpillars." 

Tlie moths, which usually aj^pear in late summer, have 
an expanse of wing of about an inch and a half; they 
are of a sombre gray or brown color; they rest with the 
wings closed more or less flatly over the body, the upper 
entirely covering the lower ones, and always have two, 
more or less distinctly marked spots, the one round and 
the other kidney-shaped. The moths, attracted by the 
lights, frequently enter houses at night; they sometimes 
fly in cloudy days also. They dej)osit their eggs mostly 
in late summer, sometimes in spring, upon plants near 
the surface of the ground; these soon hatch and the 
ypung larvae enter the earth, where they live upon the 
tender roots of grass and other plants, until winter, when, 
about two-thirds grown, they descend deeper into the 
soil, and remain in a torpid state during cold weather. 
In spring they come to the surface, and with appetites 
sharpened by their long fast, are ready to attack almost 
any succulent plant. They feed by night, and hide in 
holes just under the surface during the day. They have 
a general greasy appearance, being smooth, naked, and of 
some shade of gray, green, brown, or black, and variously 
marked; the head is polished, and there is a shield of 
the same color upon the top of the first and last seg- 
ments; when disturbed they coil themselves into a ball. 
When the worms are full grown, they descend deeper 



80 



Il^-JUEIOUS IHSECTS 



into the ground, form an earthern cocoon, in which they 
become chrysalids, and in summer or early autumn ap- 
pear as moths, to continue the round of changes. There 




are half a dozen or more species of this 
terrestrial or non-climbing Cut-worms; 
the one chosen for illustration (fig. 50), 
the Greasy Cut-worm {Agrotis telifera^ 
Harr.), is one of the most common, and 



Fig. 50. will give a general idea of all. It ap- 
cuT-woKM. pears to attack nearly all green cultivat- 
ed plants with equal avidity, and has proved most 
destructive to corn, tomatoes, and tobacco. 

Eemedies. — Birds give much aid by destroying the 
larvae when exposed by the plow. Chickens will destroy 
large numbers if cooped in the garden. There are several 
insect enemies; Ichneumon and other flies deposit their 
eggs within the worm. Some of the Cannibal beetles, 
and some spiders prey upon them. Finding their hiding 
places and killing the worm, is the most effective artifi- 
cial remedy. The worms usually secrete themselves in 
the ground near the place where they have destroyed a 
plant, and often drag a leaf to the entrance of the hole, 
as if to serve as a guide to it. It has been recommended 
to make a number of smooth holes near the hill of corn, 
or near other plants that are attacked, by means of a 
small stick; many will take refuge in these, and may be 
killed the next morning by the use of the same stick. 
This method has been carried out more expeditiously by 
the use of a circular block of wood, with several smooth 
pegs in its under side near the edge. This is furnished 
with a handle, and thrusting it down upon the soil, it 
will make a series of smooth holes, in which the worms 
will take refuge; the next day they may be killed by the 
use of the same implement. In localities where loss 
from these worms is apprehended, it is a wise precaution 



OF THE FAEM AKD GARDEN* 



81 



to use an abundance of seed, so that a good stand may 
be left after they have done their mischievous work. 



The term Wire-worm, like that of Cut-worm, is some- 
times applied rather indefinitely; the name properly be- 
longs to tiie long and slender larvse of several species of 
Elater, popularly known as Spring "and as ^'Click- 
beetles." A very large blackish beetle, nearly two inches 
long, with two large round black spots on its thorax 
which are mistaken for eyes, is often found on fences, 
sides of buildings, etc., in summer. This, when laid 
upon its back, will by a sudden spring throw itself into 
the air to the height of several inches, and usually come 
down right side up. This, the most conspicuous of tliese 
beetles, is not injurious, but there are several others, 
much smaller, but with the same power of springiiig, the 



some live only in decayed wood, and are not injurious, 
while others live in the soil, and do great damage 
to several crops. Figure 51 gives the general appear- 
ance of the larva, and figure 52 of the beetle, though in 
some the beetle is much narrower in proportion. So far 
as is known of their history, these larvse live for several 
years in the ground, some say for three, and others for 
five years. They are all long in proportion to their 



WIRE-WORMS. 



larvae of which are Wire-worms. En- 
tomologists have placed some of these 
insects in different genera, but for the 
present purpose, it is sufiicient to regard 
them all as Spring-beetles, and their 
larvae as Wire-worms. The larvae of 




Fig. 52. 



SNAP-BEETLE. 



82 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



diameter, their form suggesting the name Wire-worm. 
Their injury to the Potato crop is perhaps more gener- 
ally noticed, as it is sometimes completely ruined by 
them; they also do much damage to Indian Corn, the 
cereal grains and the grasses. Plowing, both in fall and 
early spring with frequent harrowing, will expose them 
to the birds, who are the chief help. In England, previ- 
ous to planting the potato crop, potatoes, with a stick 
thrust into them to mark the place, are buried here and 
there to serve as traps; they are taken up at intervals, 
and any worms that may have collected on them des- 
troyed. 



FALSE WIRE-WORMS. 



Several worm-like creatures found in the soil are pop- 
ularly called wire-worms, which are not the larvae of the 
Snap-beetles; indeed are not any kind of a larva. These 
are now regarded as belonging as to a sub-order of insects, 
the Myriajjods, which includes Centipedes, Millipedes, etc. 
The most common representatives of these belong to the 
genus lulus. They have worm-like bodies, made up of 
numerous horny divisions, most of which bear two pairs 
of legs, and there are two short feelers at the head. 
They are of a blackish or dark-brown color, and when 

disturbed, coil 
themselves into a 
ring. They un- 
rig. 53.-rAi.SE wiKE-woRM (Mus). meta- 
morphosis like the 

proper insects, from which they are also distinguished 
by their numerous legs. Our species are from an 
inch to an inch and a half long, but in tropical 
countries they reach six and seven inches. Many 
of them feed upon decayed vegetable and animal matter, 
but some of them feed upon the roots of living plants. 




OF THE FARM AND GARDEI^. 



83 



The engraving (fig. 53), whicli illustrates their general 
appearance, is of our largest species {lulus muUistriatus, 
Walsh.), which has been found in some localities destruc- 
tiye to strawberry plants, carnations, and especially to 
lily-bulbs. Potatoes have also been much injured by 
smaller species. Traps in the form of potatoes, as men- 
tioned under Wire-worms, would be of service, or slices 
of apples, carrots, potatoes, or parsnips, placed upon the 
beds and covered with pieces of board, will catch many 
of tliese millipedes. 



THE POTATO. 

The late B. D. Walsh, the lamented senior editor of the 
'^American Entomologist," contributed a valuable paper 
to that journal, of which the following is the substance. 
After commenting upon the absurdity of the various 
articles in the i^apers on '^The Potato Bug," he shows 
that there are a number of insects that are injurious to 
the potato, and describes the most important, beginning 
with 

THE STALK BORER. 
(Gortynia nitida, Guenee.) 

This larva (fig. 54, 2), commonly burrows in the large 
stalks of the potato; but is not peculiar to that plant, as 
it occurs also in the stalks of the tomato, and in those of 
the dahlia and aster and other garden flowers. We have 
likewise found it boring through the cob of growing 
Indian corn, and strangely confining itself to that portion 
of the ear; and we formerly received a single specimen 
embedded in the stem of Indian corn, from which we 
subsequently ])red the winged insect. By way of com- 



84 



INJUKIOUS INSECTS 



pensation, we suppose, it is particularly partial to the 
stem of tlie common Oocklebur [Xanthium strutnarium); 
aud if it would only confine itself to such noxious weeds 
as this, it might be considered as a friend instead of an 
enemy. Fourteen years ago it was more numerous than 
usual, and we noticed it to be particularly abundant 
along the Iron Mountain and Pacific roads in Missouri. 

The larva of the Stalk Borer moth leaves the stalk in 
which it has burrowed the latter part of July, and descends 
a little below the surface of the earth, where in about 
three days it changes into the pupa or chrysalis state. 
The winged insect (fig. 54, 1), which belongs to the same 




± 2 

Fig. 54.— POTATO-STALK BOREB. 
1, Moth ; 2, Larva. 



extensive group of moths (JVocttia family, or owlet moths) 
to which all the cut-worm moths appertain, emerges from 
under ground from the end of August to the middle of 
September. Hence it is evident that some few, at all 
events, of the female moths must live through the winter 
in obscure holes and corners, and lay their eggs upon the 
plants which they infest in the following spring. For 
otherwise, as there are no young ^^otato or tomato plants, 
or Indian corn, or dahlias, or asters, or even cocklebur 
for them to lay their eggs ujDon in the autumn, the Avhole 
breed of them would die out in a single year. When a 
vine is found to wilt suddenly, it should be examined 
for this insect, which should be destroyed, to prevent 
further increase. 



OF THE FARM AKD GARDEl^. 



85 



THE POTATO-STALK WEEVIL. 




(Baridius trinotatus, Say). 

This insecfc is more peculiarly a soutliern species, occur- 
ring abundantly in tlie Middle States, and in the more 
southerly parts of Indiana and Illinois, and also in Mis- 
souri; but, according to Dr. Harris, being totally un- 
known in New England. The female beetle (fig. 55, c), 
deposits a single egg in an oblong slit about one-eighth 
inch long, which it has previously formed with its beak 

in the stalk of the po- 
tato. The larva sub- 
sequently hatches out, 
and bores into the 
heart of the stalk, al- 
ways, according to 
Miss Morris, of Penn- 
sylvania, who was the 
first to notice it, pro- 
ceeding downwards to- 
wards the root. When full grown, it is a little over one- 
fourth inch long (fig. 55, a), and is a soft whitish, legless 
grub, with a scaly head. Hence it can always be readily 
distinguished from the larva of the Stalk Borer, which has 
invariably sixteen legs, no matter hoAV small it may be. 
Unlike this last insect, it becomes a pupa (fig. 55, Z*), within 
the potato stalk which it inhabits ; and it comes out in the 
beetle state about the last of August or the beginning of 
September. The stalk inhabited by the larva almost 
always wilts and dies. So soon as the vines first wilt, 
they should be pulled up and burned. The perfect bee- 
tle, like many other snout-beetles, must of course live 
through the winter to reproduce its species in the follow- 
ing spring. 

Miss Morris found that " in many potato fields in the 
neighborhood of Germantown, Penn., every stem was in- 



Fig. 55.— POTATO-STALK WEEVIL,, 
a, Larva ; h. Pupa ; c, Weevil. 



86 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



fested by these insects, causing the premature decay of 
the yines and giving to them the appearance of haying 
been scalded. 

THE POTATO-WORM OR TOMATO-WORM, 

{Sphinx qidnque-maculata, Haworth). 

This well-known insect, the larya of which is usually 
called the Potato- worm, but it is far commoner on the 
closely allied tomato, the foliage of which it often clears 
off yery completely in particular spots in a single night. 
Many persons are afraid to handle this Ayorni, from an 
absurd idea that it has the power of stinging with the 
horn on its tail. This Avorm is shown in fig. 56, about 
two-thirds grown. We have handled hundreds of them 
with perfect impunity; in fact, this dreadful looking 
horn is not peculiar to the Potato-worm, but is met with 
in almost all the larvae of the large and beautiful group 
to which it belongs {SpMnx family). It seems to have 
no special use, but, like the bunch of hair on the breast 
of the turkey cock, to be a mere ornamental appendage. 

When full-fed, which is usually about the last of 
August, the Potato-worm burrows under ground and 
shortly afterward transforms into the j^upa state (fig. 57. 
The pupa is very often dug up in the spring from ground 
where tomatoes or potatoes were grown in the preceding 
season; and most persons that meet with it suppose that 
the singular, jug-handled appendage at one end of it, is 
its tail. In reality, however, it is the tongue-case, and 
contains the long pliable tongue which the future moth 
will employ in lapping up the nectar of the flowers, before 
which, in the dusky gloom of some warm, balmy 
summer's evening, it hangs for a few moments suspended 
in the air. 

The moth itself (fig. 58), was formerly confounded 
with the Tobacco- worm motli [Spliinx Carolina, Lin- 



88 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 




naeus), which indeed it very closely resembles, having the 
same series of orange-colored spots on each side of the 
ahdomen. The gray and black markings, however, of 
the wings diifer percejDtibly in the two species; and in 
the Tobacco-worm moth there is always a more or less 
faint white spot or d-ot near the centre of the front wing, 
which is never met with in the other species. In Con- 
necticnt and other J^orthern States where Tobacco is 
grown, the Potato-worm often feeds n|)on the leaves of 
the Tobacco plant, the trne Tobacco-worm being unknown 
in those latitudes. In the more southerly States, on the 

other hand, and in Mex- 
ico and the West In- 
dies, the true Potato- 
worm is unknown, and it 
is the Tobacco-worm that 
59.— POTATO- woKM, WITH PAEA- tlic tobacco gTowcrs have 

to fight. While in the 
intermediate country both species may frequently be 
captured on the wing m the same garden and upon the 
same evening. In other words, the Potato-worm is a 
northern species, the Tobacco- worm a southern species; 
but on the confines of the two districts exclusively 
inhabited by each, they intermingle in varying propor- 
tions, according to the latitude. 

Eemedies. — :The larva is so voracious that it soon 
makes its presence known by the bare stems, and by the 
abundant droppings found upon the ground, and should 
be sought for and destroyed. It has more than one in- 
sect enemy, notably a fly, the larva of which, after 
making its growth within the Potato-worm, comes to 
the surface and spins a smooth white cocoon. Some- 
times a very thin and feeble worm will be found with its 
back covered with these cocoons, as in fig. 59. Such, 
when found, should not be killed, as it is desirable to 
propagate the fly, and the worm will never perfect itself, 



OP THE EAE1[ AKD GAEDEJS". 



89 



Tobacco growers sometimes place some poisonous syrup 
in the long tabular flowers of the Jamestown Weed 
[Datura Stramoniufn), and thus kill the moths. 

THE STRIPED BLISTER-BEETLE. 

{Lytta vittata, Fabr). 

The three insects just described infest the potato plant 
in the larva state only, the first two of them burrowing 
internally in the stalk or stem, the third feeding upon 
its leaves externally. Of these three the first and third 
are moths or scaly- winged insects (Order Le^ndoptera). 
The second of the three, as well as the next 
four foes of the potato, which we shall n'W/^ 
notice, are all of them beetles or shelly- 
Avinged insects (Order Coleojytera). As these /iflK 
four species all agree with one another in 
living under ground and feeding upon yari- ^^sn 
ous roots, during the larva state, and in / \^ 
emerging to attack the foliage of the potato, j^jg eo.— strip- 
only when in the course of the summer they blister- 

'' BEETLE. 

have passed into the perfect or beetle state, 
it will be quite unnecessary to repeat this statement 
under the head of eacli of the four. In fact, the four 
are so closely allied, that they all belong to the same 
family of beetles, the Blister-beetles {Lytta family) — 
to which the common imported Spanish-fly or Blister- 
beetle of the druggists appertains — and all of them 
will raise just as good a blister as that does, and are 
ef[ually poisonous when taken internally in large doses. 
The Striped Blister-beetle (fig. 60,) is almost exclusively 
a southern species, occurring in particular years yery 
abundantly on the potato yine in Central and Southern 
Illinois, and also in Missouri, but in ]^orth Illinois being 
usually rare. A few years ago it was reported by Mr. 
Graham Lee, of Mercer County, of N. 111., and also 



90 



IXJURIOUS IXSECTS 



by Capt. Beebe^ of Gulena, X. 111., as occurring 
ill very large numbers upou their potatoes^ and, ac- 
cording to Dr, Harris, it is occasionally found even in 
^^ew England. In some specimens, the broad outer 
black stripe on the wing-cases is divided lengthways by a 
slender yellow line, so that instead of two there are three 
black stripes on each wing-case; and in the same field wl- 
have noticed, on two separate occasions, that all the 
intermediate grades between the two varieties may be 
met with; thus proving that the four-striped individuals 
do not form a distinct species, as was formerly supposed, 
but are mere varieties of the same species to which the 
six-striped individuals appertain. Some years since we 
found the insect very abundant on the potato in Cham- 
paign Co., IlL, and Mr. Merton Dunlap, of Champaign, 
told U3 that he had succeeded in driving them with 
brush oil his potato-patch on to some old hay which 
he had prepared to receive them, and then, setting tire 
to the hay, consumed them bodily. Many such cases 
may be found recorded in different agricultural journals. 

Mr. M. S. Hill, of East Liverpool, Ohio, states in the 
''Practical Entomologist'' (vol. L p. 197). that this 
species had once swarmed on the potato vines in his 
neighborhood, and that ''the most successful method of 
destroying them was by placing between the farrows or 
rows, dry hay or straw, and setting it on fire."' "The 
bugs," he adds, " were thus nearly all destroyed, and the 
straw burning very quickly did not injure the vines." 

THE ASH-GRAY BLISTER-BEETLE. 

{Lytta cinerea. Fabr.) 

This species (fig. 61, a, male) is the one commonly 
found in the more northerly parts of the Xorthern States, 
where it usoally takes the place of the Striped Blister- 
beetle. It is of a uniform ash-gray color: but this color is 



OF THE FARM AXD GARDEH". 



91 



given it by the presence upon its body of minute ash-gray 
scales or short hairs, and wheneyer these are rubbed off, 
which happens almost as readily as on the wings of a but- 
terfly, the original black color appears. It attacks not only 
potato Tines, but also Honey-locusts, and especially the 
English and Windsor bean. In one particular year, we 
have known them, in conjunction with about equal 
numbers of the common Rose-bug {Macroclactylus suh- 
spi?iosus, Linn.), to swarm upon every apple tree in a small 
orchard in Northern Illinois, not only eating the foliage, 
but guawing into the young apples. They were formerly 
quite common m parts of Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, 




Fig. 61. — ASH-GRAY (a), AUD BLACK-KAT (&) BLISTER-BEETLES. 

and Iowa; and the people there got so habituated to the 
presence of the Colorado bug, that in many cases they 
thought it was a fresh invader from the region of the 
Rocky Mountains: whereas it has existed eyerywhere in 
the more northerly parts of the United States from time 
immemorial. 

THE BLACK-RAT AND BLACK BLISTER-BEETLES, 
(Lytta murina, Leconte, and L. atrata, Fabr.) 

The first of these, the Black-rat Blister-beetle (fig. 61, 
b,) is entirely black, and is sometimes found in swarms 
upon the potato vines in the more Northern States. 
There is a very similar species, the Black Blister-beetle 



92 



INJURIOUS IJ^'SECTS 



{Lytta atrata, Fabr.), from whick the Black-rat Blister- 
beetle is disCingiiisliable only by liaving four raised lines 
placed lengthways upon each wing-case, and by the two 
first joints of the antenna being greatly dilated and 
lengthened in the males, as above in figure 61, c. The 
true Black Blister-beetle we have never met with, except 
quite late in the year, namely about the last of August or 
the fore part of September; usually upon the flowers of the 
Golden-rod, the Thistle, etc. It sometimes does injury 
in the potato field, especially when the development of 
the tubers has been retarded, but generally appears too 
late in the season to j)rove very destructive. 

THE :^IARGINED BLISTER-BEETLE, 
{Lytta marginata, Fabr.) 

This sjDecies (fig. 62,) may be at once recognized by its 
general black color, and the narrow ash-gray 
edging to its wing-cases. It usually feeds on 
certain wild plants; but has been found cpiite 
abundant on 2^<^tatoes in Missouri, Illinois, 
and elsewhere. It is a common species in 
the Mississippi Valley, and prefers most other 
varieties of the potato to the ^* Peach Blow." 
It feeds on many other plants, and esj^ecially 
MAEGiNED the Kentucky Cotfee-tree (Gymmcladus). 

BLISTER- \ 1/ / 

BEETLE. It also attacks the Egg Plant. 

THE THREE-LINED LEAF-BEETLE. 

. {Lema trilineata, Olivier.) 

The first three insects, described and figured above as 
infesting the potato-plant, attack it only in the larva 
state. The four next, namely the four Blister-beetles, 
attack it exclusively in the perfect state. The three that 




OF THE FARM AXD GARDEJTc 



93 



remain to be cousiderecl attack it both in the larA-a and 
in the perfect state, but go underground to pass into the 
pupa state: in which state — ^like all other beetles^ with- 
out exception — they are quiescent^ and eat nothing at all. 

The larva of the Three-lined Leaf -beetle may be distin- 
guished from all other msects that prey upon the potato 
by its habit of covering itself with its own excrement. 
In figure G3, a, this larva is shown in profile, both full 
and half grown, covered with the soft, greenish excre- 
mentitious matter which from time to time it discharges. 
Figure 63, c, gives a somewhat magnified view of the 
pupa; and figure 63, ^, shows the last few joints of 
the abdomen of the 
larva, magnified, and 
viewed, not in profile, 
but from above. The 
vent of the larva, as 
will be seen from this 
last figure, is situated 
on the upper surface 
of the last joint, so 
that its excrement 
naturally falls upon 
its back, and by suc- 
cessive discharges is pushed forward towards its head, 
till the whole upper surface of the insect is covered with 
it. In other insects, which do no not indulge in this 
singular practice, the vent is situated either at the ex- 
treme tip of the abdomen or on its lower surface. 

There are several other larvae, feeding upon other 
plants, which commonly wear cloaks of this strange 
material, among which may be mentioned the larvae of 
certain Tortoise-beetles {Cassicla), some of which feed on 
the Sweet Potato vines. (See Sweet Potato. ) 

There are two broods of this species every year. The 
first brood of larvae may be found on the potato vine 




94 



IXJUEIOUS lif SECTS 




towards the latter end of June, and tlie second in Angust. 
The first brood stays undergi'onnd about a fortnight 
before it emerges in the perfect beetle state; and the 
second brood stays there all winter, and only emerges at 
the beginning of the following June. The perfect Beetle 
(fig. b'4,) is of a pale yellow color, with three black 
strij^es on its back, and bears a general resemblance to 
the common Cucumber-bng [Diabrotica vittata^ Pabr., 
see fig. 27, p. 42). From this last species, however, it 
may be readily distinguished by the remarkable pinching 
in of the sides of its thorax, so as to make 
quite a lady-like waist there, or what nat- 
urahsts call a ^° constrictiou." It is also 
on the ayerage a somewhat larger insect, 
and differs in other less obvioas resj)ects. 
As in the case of the Colorado Potato-bug, 
Fis:. 64. the female, after coupling in the usual man- 
^BJiSS 'le.-, lays her yellow eggs (%. 63, d,) on 
the under surface of the leayes of the 
potato plant. The larv^ hatching from these require 
about the same time to develop, and when full grown, 
descend in the same manner into the ground, where they 
transform to pupfe (fig. 63, c.) within a small oval 
chamber, from which in time the jDcrfect beetle comes 
forth. The remedies for the Colorado Beetle should be 
used for this. 

THE COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. 
{Doryplioro. 10-Uneata, Say.) 
EETE05PECTITE. 

In 1819 the United States Govemment fitted out an 
ex]3loring expedition to the Xortliv^^est Territories under 
the command of Major StejAen H. Long. The zoologist 
of this expedition was Mr. Thomas Say, of PhiladeljDhia, 



OF THE FAEAI AXD GAEDEi^". 



95 



whose name lias since become so familiar to eyery ento- 
mologist. "While on this expedition, extending through 
1819 and IS'^O, numerous specimens of a species of beetle 
were found on the Upper ^lissouri, near the base of the 
Rocky Mountains, whicli some four years later( 1824) Mr. 
Say described in a paper read before the Academy of 
Xatural Sciences, Philadelphia, under the name of 
Dorypliora 10-lineata, an insect that has since received 
the common name of Colorado Potato-beetle. 

At the time of its discovery, neither Mr. Say nor any 
of his associates cotild have had the remotest idea that this 
insect would at some future day become one of the greatest 
pests that ever afflicted the farms and gardens of this 
country. Later explorers, visiting the same regions of 
country where Mr. Say originally found the ^'ten-liners," 
discovered it feeding on a wild species of Solcmum (S. 
rostratum), a plant allied to and belonging to the same 
genus as the cultivated Potato {Solanum tuherosum). 
The pioneers on the western plains and i^rairies little 
imagined that they were in such close proximity to an 
insect that would soon give an immense amount of 
trouble, and make the ctiltivation of the Potato anvthins: 
but a pleasant and profitable occupation. But in 1861, 
Mr. Thomas Murphy, of Atchison, Kansas, reported that 
they were so ntimerous in his garden that he was enabled 
in a very short time to gather two bushels of them. His 
potatoes were quickly destroyed, and the beetles then 
spread in all directions. Later they appeared in parts 
of Iowa, and subsequently jiassed eastward, cross- 
ing the Mississippi Eiver, and appearing in several 
localities almost simultaneously within the State of 
Illinois. In stating that this insect passes from one 
locality to another, it must not be understood that it 
migrates, it merely spreads, enough remaining bebind to 
keep up an abundant stock, and they are probably now 
no less abtmdant at points in the Western States than 



96 



IKJURIOUS INSECTS 



when first discovered there by Mr. Say, oyer sixty years 
ago. The sudden and enormous increase in numbers, as 
noted in Kansas and Iowa, was wholly due to the increase 
in the supply of food, for so long as this insect had to 
depend upon the few scattering plants of the wild Sola- 
num, as found on the plains, its numbers were limited 
to a few thousands, or perhaps hundreds to the square 
mile; but as a single acre of potatoes will probably furnish 
more food than all the wild plants on a hundi-ed acres of 
prairie, the sudden increase of this pest when it reached 
the out-lying settlements or farms of Kansas, Nebraska 
and Iowa, can readily be accounted for. A few years ago, 
their ravages in Nebraska and Kansas were severe. 
Since then the bugs have not caused much damage 
west of the Missouri. 

At first the progress of the beetles eastward was at the 
rate of about sixty or seventy-five miles annually, but 
as they reached the more thickly settled regions their 
progress was more rapid, probably recei^^ng some assist- 
ance from the railroads, specimens flying into the cars at 
some western station and escaping at another a hundred 
or two miles eastward, or in whatever direction the train 
may have been going. 

NATURAL HISTOEY AND TRANSFOEMATIONS. 

Prof. Riley was the first to make known the natural his- 
tory and transformations of the Potato-beetle. They may 
be briefly summed up as follows: The female beetle depos- 
its her eggs on the underside of the leaves, in clusters of a 
dozen, up to fifty or more. The eggs are of an orange 
color, and hatch in about a week after being laid, the 
grubs immediately commencing to feed and continumg 
until mature, which occurs in from fourteen to eighteen 
days, varying somewhat as the weather may be favorable 



OF THE FAEII A^s'D GARDEN. 



or unfavorable. When full gTO"vvn^ tlie lary^ descend to 
the ground and hide under leaves or rubbish, or burrow 
iuto the soil, where they remain for ten days, then come 
forth in the perfect or winged form. Two to four broods 
are perfected during the season, according to the locality 
and length of the season, the last brood descending into 
the ground in the perfect or beetle state, and remaining 
in a dormant condition overwinter, — reappearing as soon 
as the ground has become sufficiently warm to awaken 




them from their slumbers. The beetles at this time may 
usually be seen crawhng about very rapidly, looking for 
the first shoots of the potato as it appears above ground, 
which they attack as though their appetite had been 
sharpened by a long fast. 

This beetle is now too well known to need description, 
but it may be well to note that there is a closely allied 
species [Dorypliora juncta, Germar.), often confounded 
with the genuine ^'ten-hner," although it never attacks 
the Potato, but feeds upon various species of wild Solanum, 
5 



98 



IX.JURIOrS IXSECTS 



especially the Horse-nettle [S'jianum Carolinense), a very 
common weed tlirougliout the Middle and Southern 
States. Both the larva and mature insect of this Bogus 
Potato-heetle resemble the genuine: but ujion a close 
examination, a very marked difference may be discovered. 
The most prominent distinctive characteristics observed 
in the nearly mature larvae are as follovrs: In the true or 
D. 1(}-Jineata the sides are ornamented with tvo rows of 
black dots, and the head is black: while in j unci a there 
is but one row of dots, and the head is of a pale color: 
the first joint behind the head is reddish-brown and edged 
with black. The matui'e insects dilier still more widely, 




Fig. 66.— BOGUS coLORAi>o BEETLE {Dorijphora junctd). 

a, a, Eggs ; &, &. Larvse ; c. Beetle, natural size ; d. Left Wing-coTer, enlarged. 

for while 104ineata, as the name indicates, has ten black 
strij)es on its elytra, the third and fourth stripe counting 
from the outside, are joined behind: in junda. the 
second and third are joined, and in a large proportion 
the two stripes are united the entire length, hy deep 
brown, or black, thus forming one broad and conspicuous 
stripe. There are also other distinctive characters, shown 
in the accompanying figures, such as the arrangements 
of the punctures bordering the stripes on the elytra, but 
these are less conspicuous to the casual observer. 

A few years since I tried to rear a quantity of the 
larva? sent me from the South on the leaves of the Potato, 
but failed to cany a single specimen tliroughto maturity 



OF THE FARM AK'D GAKDEK. 



99 



on such. food. The grubs will, when deprived of other 
and more agreeable food, attack the Potato leaves, but 
after eating a few moments, crawl away, and unless 
supplied with more of the Horse-nettle, soon die. But 
the genuine 10-Uneata is not so particular in regard to 
its food, since the Horse -nett-le and various other species 
of Solarium are just as acceptable as the Potato, and the 
Egg-plant {S, melongena) is preferred to either. On a 
pinch it will even feed on Jamestown-weed {Datura), 
Cabbage or Smart-weed, though it is questionable whether 
it could thrive for any length of time on plants belonging 
to other families than that of the Potato. 

METHOD OF DESTROTIXG. 

The first step or most practical method of making war 
upon this insect is the destruction of the few or many 
that come out of the ground in spring, for each, female 
killed at this time may safely be said to represent five to 
ten hundred in the succeeding generation, for she will, 
if not prevented, lay about that number of eggs. Some 
persons, however, claim that it is much the best way to 
allow the beetles to take their own course, and then 
destroy the larvae a few days later, when they have fairly 
commenced feeding upon the leaves, by applpng some 
one or more of the various poisons recommended for this 
purpose. That either the beetles or the grubs must be 
destroyed in order to save the crop, is now generally 
admitted, and the only room for a difference of opinion 
is as to how it should be done. Scores of different sub- 
stances have been tried for this purpose, but none have 
proved so effectual and economical as Paris Green and 
other arsenical compounds. That these poisons are 
dangerous to have about a place, is admitted, and so are 
sharp knives, reapers, and mowers, still it is not as easy to 
do without them as to be a little careful in using, and 



100 



IKJURIOFS INSECTS 



thereby avoid accidents. The Paris Green is destructiye 
to the Potato-beetle in both its j)erfect and larval states, 
and one pound of the poison, mixed with twenty of pul- 
verized ]olaster, or of any common kind of flour, and 
dusted over the leaves while wet with dew in the morning, 
or after a shower, will quickly cause the death of all the 
grubs or perfect insects feeding thereon. 

A duster should be used for apj^lpng the poison, and 
one made of tin, with a perforated bottom, and attached 
to a handle four or five feet long, will be found a very con- 
venient implement for this purpose. But the operator 
should be careful not to allow the compound to blow into 
his face, or inhale it while at work, it being only neces- 
sary for him to keep in mind that he is handling a viru- 
lent poison, and act accordingly. The Green may also be 
applied by mixing it with water, but as it will not dis- 
solve, being m^erely suspended in the liquid, it is neces- 
sary to frequently agitate the mixture in order to prevent 
the poison settling to the bottom, as well as to insure its 
uniform distribution over the leaves. But water is a 
heavy material to handle, and unless one has the con- 
veniences for applying it, the dusting process will require 
the least labor. 

London Purple may be applied in the same way as 
Paris Green, and will prove equally effective, besides 
being much cheaper.* With most destructive beetles 
the larva is alone injurious, but the perfect Colorado- 
beetle eats as well as its larvae. 

NATURAL ENEMIES. 

There are a number of other insects that aid in keep- 
ing the Colorado-beetle in check. Active among these is 

*A more detailed history' of the Colorado Beetle, as well as various 
forms of apparatus for distributing Paris Green and other arsenical poi- 
sons, will be found in " Potato Pests," a special treatise by C. V. Riley, 
of over one hundred pages.— New York : The Orange Judd Company. 



OF THE FARM AND GARDEN. 



101 



the larvae of several Lady-birds, or Lady-bugs, the per- 
fect beetles being red, pink, or other bright color, with 
black spots, and generally well known by the above pop- 
ular names. Their larva3 are very active and 
do good service in destroying both the eggs 
and the larvae of the Potato-beetle. Their 
pupae often resemble the larva of tbe Colorado- 
beetle, and are destroyed by mistake. Figure 
67 shows one of these larvae; the hair line 
gives the real size. Besides these, there are 
several carnivorous beetles, the Tiger-beetles, 
and Ground-beetles, which prey upon both 
the larvae and the perfect insect. A full account 
of the various insects that prey upon the Colorado- 





Fiff, 68.— PARASITE OF COLORADO-BEETLE ( Uropodu Americana). 
a, Beetle attacked h\ it, natural size ; b, Mite ; c, penetrating or attacking organs ; 
d, Claw at the end of attacking organs ; e, Filament— all much enlarged. 

beetle, is given in Prof. Eiley's w^ork, just referred to. 
The perfect insect is attacked by a mite which occurs in 
such numbers as to completely cover its victim, and it 



102 



li^JUKIOUS INSECTS 



soon perishes. Figure 68, shows at a, the Colorado- 
beetle of the natural size, covered by this mite ( Uropoda 
Americana, Eiley), the mite greatly magnified, with a 
long filament wiiich helps it to attach itself to the beetle; 
c, the penetrating organs; the claw at the end of these. 



SWEET-POTATO. 

The insects which attack the Sweet-potato plant are 
few in species, and belong almost entirely to that group 
of beetles popularly known as Tortoise-beetles. With the 
exception of the Cucumber Flea-beetle (Haltica cu- 
cumeris, Harr.), and a few solitary caterpillars, other 
insects have not been found on this plant; still these 
Tortoise-beetles are of themselves suflBciently numerous 
in individuals and species to often entirely destroy whole 
fields of this esculent, and they are especially severe on 
the plants when newly transferred from the hot-bed. 

TORTOISE-BEETLES. 

{Cassidce.) 

These Tortoise-beetles have thus far been found in 
considerable numbers in the Southern States, but the 
cultivation of the Sweet-Potato is annually becoming 
more general in northern localities, and as there is con- 
siderable traffic in plants, it is probable that the insect 
pests Avill spread as food for them is provided. Every 
one who receives Sweet-Potato plants, or ^' sets," from 
another locality, should carefully examine them before 
they are planted, to see that no insect is introduced with 
them. 

These insects are almost all of a broad sub- depressed 
form, either oval or orbicular, with the thorax and wing- 



OF THE FARM AI^D GAEDEI^-. 



103 



coYers so thoroughly dilated at the sides into a broad and 
flat margin, as to forcibly recall the appearance of a tur- 
tle, whence the jDoj^ular name. Many haye the singular 
power, in a greater or less degree, of changing their color 
when alive, some of them shine at will with the most 
brilliant metalhc tints. 

Insects, like the higher animals, are usually cleanly in 
voiding their excrement, but the larvae of several species 
of beetle have the peculiar habit of covering themselves 
with their own excrement. The larvaB of the Three-lined 
Leaf-beetle (Lema trilineata, Oliv.), which sometimes 
proves injurious to the potato in the East, has this habit, 
as do several others. 

But the larvae of the Tortoise-beetles are imr excellence 
the true dung-carriers. In the instances related above, 
the load is carried immediately on the back, but our Tor- 
toise-beetles are altogether more refined in their tastes, 
and do not allow the dung to rest on the body, but simply 
shade themselves with a sort of stercoraceous parasol. 

The larvae of all the species that have been observed are 
broad and flattened like the beetles, and have the margins 
of the body furnished with spines which are often 
barbed (fig. 75). Usually there are thirty-two of these 
spines, or sixteen on each side of the body. Four of these 
are situated on the prothorax, which forms two anterior 
projections beyond the common margin; four of them — 
the two anterior ones longer than the others — are on each 
of the two following thoracic segments, and each of the 
abdominal segments is furnished with but two. There 
are nine elevated spiracles each side superiorly, namely, 
one immediately behind the prothorax and eight on the 
abdominal segments. The fore part of the body is pro- 
jected shield-like over the head, which is retractile and 
small. 

The eggs from which these larvae hatch, and which we 
do not recollect to have seen anywhere described, are de- 



104: 



IXJUKIOUS II^SECTS 



posited singly npon the leaves, to wliich they are fastened 
by some adliesiye substance. They are of irregular angu- 
lar form; flat, and somewhat narrower at one end than 
the other; ridged above and at the sides, but smooth and 
obovate below. They are usually furnished with si)ine- 
like appendages, which, however, are sometimes entirely 
lacking. Those of C. auriclialcea (fig. 69) are 0.04 inch 
long, and of a dull dirty- white color. 

When full grown the larvae fasten the last two or three 
joints of the body to the underside of a leaf, by means of 
a sticky secretion, and in about two 
days change to pupae. The pupa is also 
flat, with usually four or five broad but 
thin and transparent serrated leaf -like 
appendages on each side of the abdo- 
men, and the prothorax, which is great- 
ly dilated and covers the head, is fur- 
nished around the edge with smaller 
barbed spines. The broad leaf-like 
spines at the edges of the body are bent 
under while the transformation is being 
effected, but are soon afterwards stretch- 
ed stiffly out with a forward slant. The 
pupa loses the pronged tail, but as the old larval skin is 
left adhering to the terminal segments the prong of dung 
still protects it in most cases. The legs and antennae are 
not free in this, as in the pnpge of most other beetles, but 
are soldered together as in the chrysalis of a butterfly, and 
yet it has the power of raising itself up perpendicularly 
upon the tail end by which it is fastened. The pupa state 
lasts about a week. 

Having thus spoken in general terms of this anomalous 
grouj^ of beetles, we shall now refer more particularly to 
a few of the sjoecies. Most of those mentioned below in- 
fest Sweet-potato both in the larva and perfect beetle 
states. They gnaw irregular holes, and when sufficiently 




Fig. 69— EGG OF TOR 
TOISE-BEETI.E, 
MAGNIFIED. 



OF THE FARM AKD GARDEK. 



105 



numerous entirely riddle the leaves. They usually dwell 
on the underside of the leaves, and are found most 
abundant during the months of May and June. There 
must be several broods during the year, and the same 
species is often found in all stages, and of all sizes at one 
and the same time. In all probability they hibernate in 
the beetle state. 

V\e have already proved by exjoeriment that Paris 
Green — one part of the Green to two of flour — when 
sprinkled under the vines, will kill these insects, though 
not so readily as it does the Colorado Potato-beetle. 
Moreover, as these Tortoise-bettles usually hide on the 
underside of the leaves, and as the vines trail on the 
ground, it is very difficult to apply the powder without 
running some risk from its poisonous qualities. We 
therefore strongly recommend vigilance when the plants 
are first planted, and by the figures and descriptions given 
below our readers will be enabled to recognize and kill 
the few beetles which at that time make their appearance, 
and thus nip the evil in the bud. 

THE TWO-STRIPED SWEET-POTATO BEETLE. 

(Cassida hivittata, Say.) 

This is the most common species found upon the 
Sweet-potato, and seems to be confined to that plant, as 
we have never found it on any other kind. The larva 
of this beetle, which is given in figure 71, 2, enlarged, and 
in figure 70, of natural size, is dirty-white or yellowish- 
white, with a more or less intense neutral-colored lon- 
gitudinal line along the back, usually relieved by an 
extra light band each side. It differs from the larvae of 
all other known species in not using its fork for merdig- 
erous purposes. Indeed, this fork is rendered useless as a 



106 



INJUKIOUS IKSECTS 



shield to the body, by being ever enveloped, after the 
first moult, in the cast-off prickly skins, which are kept 
free from excrement. Moreover, this fork is seldom held 
close down to the back, as in the other species, but more 
usually at an angle of 45° over or from the body, thus 
suggesting the idea of a handle. 

When full fed, this larva attaches itself to the under- 
side of the leaf, and in two days the skin bursts open on 
the back, and is worked down towards the tail; when 
the pupa, at first pale, soon acquires a dull brownish 




Fig, 70.— TWO-STRIPED Fig. 71. — two-stbiped tortotse- 

TORTOISE-BKETLE. BEETLE. 
Larva, natural size. 2, Larva ; 3, Pupa ; 4, Beetle. 



color, the narrow whitish tail, which still adheres pos- 
teriorly being significant of the species. (See fig. 71, 
3.) 

The beetle (fig. 71, 4), is of a pale yellow, striped with 
black, and though broader and vastly jdifferent scientif- 
ically, still bears a general resemblance to the common 
Striped Cucumber-beetle {Diahrotica vittataj Fabr.) 

THE GOLDEN TOETOISE-BEETLE. 

(Cassida auriclialcea, Fabr.) 

Next to the preceding species, the Grolden Tortoise- 
beetle is the most numerous on our Sweet-potatoes; but it 
does not confine its injuries to that plant, for it is found 
in equal abundance on the leaves of the Bitter-sweet and 
on the different kinds of Convolvulus or Morning Glory. 



OF THE FAEM A1^"D GAKDEK. 



10? 



The larva (fig. 72, a, natural size; ^, enlarged with the 
dung taken from, the fork), is of a dark brown color, 
with a pale shade upon the back. It carries its fascifork 
immediately over the back, and the excrement is arranged 
in a more or less regular trilobed pattern. The loaded 
fork still lies close to the back in the pupa, which is 
brown like the larva, and chiefly characterized by three 
dark shades on the transparent prothorax, one being in 
the middle and one at each side, as represented at fig. 
73, c. 

The perfect beetle (fig. 73, <:?), when seen in all its 
splendor, is one of the most beautiful objects that can 




well be imagined. It exactly resembles a piece of golden 
tinsel, and with its legs withdraAvn and body lying flat to 
a leaf, the nninitiated would scarcely suppose it to be an 
insect did it not suddenly take wing when being observed. 
At first tliese beetles are of a dull deep orange color, 
which strongly relieves the transparent edges of the wing- 
coverts and helmet, and gives conspicuousness to six 
black spots, two (indicated in the figure) above, and two 
on each side. But in about a week after they have left 
the pupa shell, or as soon as they begin to copulate, they 
shine in all their splendor, and these black spots are 
scarcely noticed. 



108 



IN^JUKIOUS INSECTS 



THE PALE-THIGHED TORTOISE-BEETLE. 

{Cassida pallida, Herbst.) 

This species can scarcely be distinguished from the pre- 
ceding. It is of a somewhat broader, rounder form, and 
differs in lacking the black spots on the wmg-covertS; and 
in having the thighs entirely pale yellow, while in auricJi- 
alcea they are black at the base. It likewise feeds upon 
the Sweet-potato, and its larva differs only from that of 
the former, in its spines being brighter and lighter col- 
ored, and in having a dull orange head, and a halo of the 
same color on the anterior portion of the body. 

THE MOTTLED TORTOISE-BEETLE. 

(Cassida guttata, Ohv.) 

This species (fig. 74:), which is the next most com- 
mon of those found on the Sweet-potato in the latitude 




Fig. 74. — MOTTLED ¥ig. 75. — mottled tortoise- 

TORTOISE-BEETLE. BEETLE, a, Larva ; b, Pupa. 



of St. Louis, is at once distinguished from all the others 
here described by being usually black, with the shoulders 
black to the extreme edge of the transparent wing-cov- 
erts. It is a very variable species, and is frequently more 
or less speckled or mottled with gold, while more rarely 
it has a uniform golden appearance. 

The larva, which is represented enlarged and with the 
dung removed at figure 75, a, is of a uniform green color, 



OE THE FAKM AKD GAEDEif. 



109 



with a bluish shade along the back, which shade disap- 
pears howeyer when the insect has fasted for a few hours. 
It carries its excrement in irregular broad masses, often 
branching as in the species next to be described. The 
pupa (fig. 75, h), is also of a uniform green color, with a 
conspicuous black ring around the base of the first ab- 
dominal jDair of spiracles. Before changing to pupa, 
and previous to each moult, this larva is in the habit of 
removing the excrement from its fork. 

THE BLACK-LEGGED TORTOISE-BEETLE. 

{Cassida nigripes, OHv.) 

This species, which is likewise found on the Sweet- 
potato, is a little the largest of those we have mentioned. 



The beetle (fig. 76) has the power, when alive, of putting 
on a golden hue, but is not so brilliant as G. cmriclialcea, 
from which species it is at once distinguished by its larger 
size, and by its black legs and three large conspicuous 
black spots on each wing-cover. The larva (fig. 77, l), is 
of a pale straw-color, with the spines, which are long, tip- 
ped with black; and besides a dusky shade along each side 
of the back, it has two dusky spots immediately beneath 
the head, and below these last, two larger crescent marks 
of the same color. The excrement is spread in a charac- 



Fig. 76.— BLACK-LEGGED 
TOETOISE BEETLE. 





Fig. 77. — BLACK-LEGGED TORTOISE-BEETLE. 
a, Larva of natural size ; h, Magnified. 



110 



INJUEIOUS I^J^SECTS 



teristic manner, extending laterally in long shreds or 
ramifications. (See fig. 77.) The pupa is dark brown, 
variegated with paler brown, while the spines around the 
edges are transparent and white. 



TUEOTP AND RUTA BAGA. 

These root crops are much more generally cultivated in 
England than with us, and English works describe about 
a dozen species that are regarded as special enemies to 
the Turnip and Ruta Baga, or, as the latter are most 
commonly called, Swedes. As the cultivation of these 
crops becomes more general in this country, the num- 
ber of destructive insects will no doubt increase. 

Some of those insects that occasionally appear in great 
numbers, like the Fall Army Worm, and take nearly 
every green plant, attack the Turnip crop, though the 
Rocky Mountain Locust, or Grasshopper, as a rule, 
avoids it 

The Turnips belong to the same family of plants as 
the Cabbage, and several insects attack both indiscrim- 
inately. Indeed, nearly all these described under Cab- 
bage may be looked for upon Turnips (which includes the 
Ruta Baga or Swedes). The Wavy-striped Flea-beetle 
{Haltica striolata), which is so destructive to young Cab- 
bage plants, is especially fond of Turnips of all kinds in 
the young state, when the seedlings first break ground. 
This appears to be, in this country, the counterpart of the 
Turnip Flea-beetle of England, which is there generally 
called the ^'Turnip Fly," and is, like ours, a species of 
Haltica. If the young seedlings can be protected until 
they make a few rough leaves, they will usually resist 
these enemies, hence it has been found useful to dust them 



OF THE FAEM ASTD GARDEN. 



Ill 



as soon as they break ground with some powder offen- 
sive to these insects. A common application is wood 
ashes and plaster, equal parts, the young plants to be 
thoroughly covered with the mixture. Air-slaked shell 
lime (calcined oyster-shells) is much used by market gar- 
deners in the same manner, it is also useful as a fertil- 
izer. Fortunately the most destructive Saw Fly and 
other enemies of this crop have not yet made their way 
to this country, but as in the exceptional season of 1881- 
82, large quantities of turnips were imported, it is not at 
all unlikely that some of the British insects may have 
come with them. 

In the Southern States, the Harlequin Cabbage-bug 
(sec p. 37) is very destructive to the Turni]3s. 



Insects Injurious to the Cereal Grains, and the 
Grass Crops, including Clover. 



In classifying insects according to the plants they in- 
jure, there is often an over-lapping. Thus the White 
Grub, while mentioned elsewhere, is often one of the 
worst enemies to the grower of grass, whether in the 
meadow or pasture ; it also attacks the grains, as do 
several of the Cut- worms. When there is, as in some 
western localities, an invasion of the Kocky Mountain 
Grasshopper, scarcely any green thing escapes its attacks. 
We give in this division, an account of the most com- 
mon enemies to the grain grower, and those which at- 
tack grass lands. 

THE CHINCH-BUG. 

(Blissus leucopterus, Say.) 
NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CHINCH-BFG. 

The food of the Chinch-bug consists of the grasses and 
cereals, wild and cultivated, and accounts of its injur- 
ing other plants are misleading, allied species being con- 
founded with it. Belonging to the Half -wing Bugs 
(ffeterojjtera), its food is obtained by suction, so that the 
plants attacked are sapped of their hfe, and not eaten up. 
The mature Chioch-bug (fig. 79) is less then a fourth of 
an inch long; its appearance at different stages is shown 
in fig. 78, the hair lines indicating the natural sizes. The 
eggs (fig. 78, a, b,) are amber-colored, the young bugs 
112 



OF THE FAKM AJSD GARDEN. 



113 



Yary from pale-yellow with a touch of orange to bright- 
red, while the pupa (g,) is mostly brown, the 
mature bug (fig. 79,) is black, with white upper wings, 
having two characteristic black spots upon them. A 
short- winged form (fig. 80,) occurs in Canada, and in the 
more Northern States. The species hibernates in the 
perfect or mature form in a state of torpor in whatever 
sheltered situations can be found. 

The Chinch-bug is two-brooded in the Middle States, 
and in the more Southern States is probably three-brooded. 




Fig. 78.— IMMATURE STAGES OF CHLNCH-BUG. 
a, b, Eggs ; c Newly-hatciied Larvae ; /, Same, after first Moult ; g, Pupa. 

Such as survive the autumn, when the plants or the 
sap on which they feed are mostly dried up, so as to afiord 
them little or no nourishment, pass the winter in the 
usual torpid state, and always in the perfect or winged 
form, under dead leaves, under sticks of wood, under flat 
stones, in moss, in bunches of old dead grass or weeds or 
straw, and often in corn-stalks and corn-shucks. One 
year I repeatedly received corn-stalks that were crowded 
with them, and it was difiicult to find a stalk in any field 
that did not reveal some of them, upon stripping off the 
leaves. 

It has long been known that the Chinch-bug deposits 
its eggs underground and upon the roots of plants which 
it infests, and that the young larvae remain under ground 



114 



INJURIOUS IKSECTS 



for some considerable time after they liatch out, sucking 
the sap from the roots. If, in the spring of the year, 
you pull up a wheat plant in a field badJy infested by this 
insect, you will find hundreds of the eggs attached io the 
roots; and at a somewhat later period the young laryse 
may be found clustering upon the roots and looking like 
so many moving little red atoms. The egg is so small 
as to be scarcely visible to the naked eye, of an oval shape, 
about four times as long as wide, of a pale-amber-white 




Fig. 79.— CHINCH-BUG. ' CHINCH-BUG. 



color when first laid, but subsequently assuming a red- 
dish color from the young larva showing through the 
transparent shell. As the mother Chinch-bug has to 
work her way under ground in the spring of the year, in 
order to get at the roots upon which she proposes to lay 
her eggs, it becomes evident at once, that the looser the 
soil is at this time of the year the greater the facilities 
which are olfered for the operation. Hence the great ad- 
vantage of plowing land for spring grain in the pre- 
ceding autumn, or, if plowed in the spring, rolling it 
repeatedly with a heavy roller after seeding. And the re- 
mark is frequently made by farmers, that wheat harrowed 
in upon old corn-ground, without any plowing at all, 
is far less infested by Chinch-bug than wheat put in upon 



OF THE FARM A>^D GAEPE]Sr. 



115 



laud that has been plowed. There is another fact 
which has been repeatedly noticed by practical men. 
This insect carmot live and thrive and multipiy in land 
that is sopping with water^ and it generally commences 
its operations in eai-ly spring upon those particular parts 
of every field where the soil is the loosest and the driest. 

There is nothing which experience has more firmly es- 
tablished in connection with this pest, than that heavy 
rains and wet seasons are destructive of it. I have wit- 
nessed the almost magical effect of a heavy and pro- 
longed rain in a cornfield that was suffering badly. 
Warm, moist, or open winters are equally i^rehidicial to it. 

The female occupies about three weeks in depositing 
her eggs, and, according to Dr. Shimer's estimate, she de- 
posits about five hundred. The egg requires about two 
weeks to hatch, and the bag becomes full grown and ac- 
quires its wings in from forty to fifty days after hatching. 

DESTET7CTIYE POVTEBS OF THE CHIis'CH-BUG, 

Few persons in the more l^orthern States can form a 
just conception of the prodigious numbers and redoubt- 
able armies in which this insect is sometimes seen in the 
South and South-western States, marching from one field 
to another. The following extracts from cotemporane- 
ous writers I have no doubt are substantially correct, and 
give a clear and graphic statement of the ravages of the 
Chinch-bug: 

There never was a better show for wheat and bar- 
ley than we had here, the tenth of June, and no more 
paltry crop has been harvested since we were a town. 
Many farmers did not get their seed. In passing by a 
field of barley where the Chinch-bugs had been at work 
for a week, I found them moving in solid column across 
the road to a corn fic4d on the opposite side, in such 



116 



IKJUEIOUS IlfSECTS. 



numbers that I felt afraid to ride my horse among them. 
The road and fences were alive with them. Some teams 
were at work mending the road at this spot, and the bugs 
covered men, horses and scrapers till they were forced to 
quit work for the day. The bugs took ten acres of that 
corn, clean to the ground, before its hardening stalks — 
being too much for their tools — checked their progTess. 
Another lot passed from a wheat field adjoining my 
farm into a piece of corn, stopping now and then for a 
bite, but not long, They then crossed a meadow, thirty 
rods, into a sixteen -acre lot of sorghum, and swept it like 
a fire, though the cane was then scarce in tassel. From 
wheat to sorghum was at least sixty rods. Their march 
was governed by no discoverable law, except that they were 
hungry, and went where there was most to eat. Help- 
ing a neighbor harvest one of the few fortunate fields, 
early sown — and so lucky ! — we found them moving across 
his premises in such numbers that they bid fair to drive 
out the family. House, crib, stable, well-curb, trees, 
garden fences — one creeping mass of stinking life. In 
the house as well as outside, like the lice of Egypt, they 
were everywhere; but in a single day they were gone. 

If any Western fa.rmer supposes that Chinch-bugs can- 
not be out-flanked, headed off, and conquered, they are 
entirely behind the times. The thing has been effectu- 
ally done during the past season, by Mr. Dayis, Super- 
visor of the town of Scott, Ogle County, 111. This gen- 
tleman had a corn-field of a hundred acres, growing along- 
side of an extensive field of small grain. The bugs had 
finished up the latter and were preparing to attack the 
former, when the owner, being of an ingenious turn, hit 
upon a happy plan for circumventing them. He sur- 
rounded the com with a barrier of pine boards set up 
edgewise and partly buried in the ground, to keep them 
in position. Outside of this fence deep holes were dug, 
about ten feet apart. The upper edge of the board was 



OF THE FAEM AND GAKDEJ^". 



117 



kept constantly moist with a coat of coal tar, which was 
reneAved eyery day. 

The bugs according to their regular tactics, advanced 
to the assault in solid columns, swarming by millions, 
and hiding the ground. They easily ascended the boards, 
but were unable to cross the belt of the coal tar, Some= 
times they crowded upon one another so as to bridge 
over the barrier, but such places were immediately cov- 
ered with a new coating. The invaders were in a quan- 
dary, and, in that state of mind crept backward and for- 
ward until they tumbled into the deep holes aforesaid, 
these were soon filled, and the swarming myriads were 
shovelled out of them literally by wagon loads, at the rate 
of thirty or forty bushels a day, — and buried up in other 
holes, dug for the purpose, as required. This may seem 
incredible to persons unacquainted with this little pest, 
but no one who has seen the countless myriads which 
cover the earth as harvest approaches, will feel inclined 
to dispute the statement. It is an unimj^eachable fact. 
The process was repeated till only three or four bushels 
could be shovelled out of the holes, when it was aban- 
doned. The corn was completely protected and yielded 
bountifully. 

False Chi^tch-bugs. — Some insects, with a general 
resemblance to the true Chinch-bug, are sometimes mis- 
taken for that, and as they are general feeders, have 
given rise to reports that garden crops and others besides 
the grains and gi-asses, are attacked by the Chinch-bug. 
The most frequently mistaken for the true one is the 
False Chinch-bug [Nysius destructor, Eiley), fig. 81, of 
which 1 is the pupa, and c the mature insect, the lines 
showing the real size. Its general color is gi-ayish- 
brown, and that of the pupa dingy yellow. The insect 
is common in Missouri and Kansas. It attacks many 
garden vegetables, especially those of the Mustard Fam- 



118 



IKJUmOUS INSECTS 



ily (CnicifercB), also the G-rape-viiie and Strawberry 
plants, to whicli it is especially injurious. The insect is 





Fig. 81.— FALSE CHINCH-BUG (Ny- 

sius destrudoi', Kiley). 



Fig. 82.— ASH-GRAY 

LEAF-BUG {Resma 
cmerea, Say.) 



described in full in Eiley's Third Missouri Keport. The 
Ash-gray Leaf-bug {Piesma cmerea), fig. 82, is often 
found feeding on the same plants as the Chinch-bug, and 
might be mistaken for that by a careless observer; a com- 
parison of the engravings will at once show the difference. 




Fig. 83. 

INSIDIOUS FLOWER-BUG (An- 

thocoris insidiosus, Say.) 




Fig. 84.— MANY-BANDED ROBBER 

{Harpactor cinctus, Fabr.) 



Natural Enemies. — The Chinch-bug appears to have 
fewer insect enemies than other destructive insects, and 



OF THE FARM AND GARBEK. 



119 



this is supposed to be due to its disagreeable odor. The 
Insidious Flower-bug (AntJwcoris insidiosus, Say), fig. 
83, and the Many-banded Eobber {Haiyactor cinctus, 
Fabr.), fig. 84, are the most prominent of these, and may 
be recognized from the engravings. The larvae of some of 
the Lady-birds, and a few others, also prey upon them 
more or less, but the most efiicient of all are the ants, 
which destroy large numbers of the eggs. 

Eemedies — It has long heen noticed that the Chinch 
Bug commences its ravages from the edges of a ^jiece of 
grain, or occasionally from one or more small patches, 
scattered at random in the more central portions of it, 
and usually drier than the rest of the field. From these 
particular parts it subsequently spreads by degrees over 
the whole field, multiplying as ifc goes, and finally taking 
the entire crop unless checked up by seasonable rains. 
In newly broken land, where the fences are new and con- 
sequently no old stuff has had time to accumulate along 
them, the Chinch-bug is never heard of. These facts in- 
dicate that the mother insects must very generally pass 
the winter in the old dead stuff that usually gathers 
along fences. Hence by way of precaution, it is advisa- 
ble, whenever possible, to burn up such dead stuff in the 
winter or early in the spring, and particularly to rake to- 
gether and burn up the old corn-stalks, instead of plow- 
ing them in, or allowing them, as is often done, to lie 
littering about on some waste ground. Ifc is true, agri- 
culturally speaking, this is bad farming; but it is better 
to lose the manure contained in the cornstalks than to 
have one's crops destroyed by insects. Whenever such 
small infested patches in a grain field are noticed early 
in the season, the rest of the field may often be saved by 
carting dry straw on to them and burning the straw on 
the spot. Chinch-bugs, green wheat and all; and this 
will be still easier to do when the bugs start along the 
edge of the field. If, as frequently happens, a piece of 



120 



INJURIOUS li^SECTg 



small grain is found about haryest-time to be so badly 
shrunken up by the bug as not to be worth cutting, the 
owner ought always to set fire to it and burn it up along 
with its ill-savored inhabitants. Thus, not only will 
the insect be prevented from migrating to the adjacent 
corn-fields, but its future multiplication will be consid- 
erably checked. 

A very simple, cheap, and easy method of prevention 
was recommended by Mr. Wilson Phelps, of Crete, Illi- 
nois. It may very probably be effectual when the bugs 
are not too numerous, and certainly can do no harm: 

AVith twelve bushels of spring wheat, mix one bushel 
of winter rye, and sow in the usual manner. The rye not 
heading out, but spreading out close to the ground, the 
bugs will content themselves with eating it until the 
wheat is too far advanced to be injured by them. There 
will of course be no danger of the winter rye mixing with 
the spring wheat. 

THE HESSIAN FLY, 

{Ceeidomyia destructor ^ Say.) 

A most complete account of this insect is to be found 
in Bulletin No. 4, of the U. S. Entomological Commis- 
sion, by Prof. A. S. Packard, of which the following is 
a brief abstract : 

1. There are two broods of the fly, the first laying their 
eggs on the leaves of the young wheat from early April 
till the end of May, the time varying with the latitude 
and weather; the second brood appearing during August 
and September, and laying about thirty eggs on the leaves 
of the young winter wheat. 

2. The eggs hatch in about four days after they are 
laid; several of the maggots or larvae make their way 
down to the sheathing base of the leaf and remain be- 
tween the base of the leaves and the stem, near the roots, 



OF THE FAEM AND GAEDEK. 



121 



causing the stalks to swell and tlie plant to turn yellow 
and die. By the end of Noyember^ or from thirty to 
forty days after the wheat is sown, they assume the "flax- 
seed'' state, and may, on removing the lower leaves, be 
found as little brown, oval, cylindrical, smooth bodies, a 
little smaller than grains of rice. They remain in the 
wheat until during warm weather in April, when the ' 
larva rapidly transforms into the pupa within its flax- 
seed-skin, the fly emerging from the '^flaxseed" case about 




Fig. 85. — THE HESSiA.Tsr FLY {Cecidomyia destriictor, Say.) 

i. Fly of natural size; h, the same, magnified; j, k, Maggots, magnified-, the 
"flaxseed" state, enlarged. 

the end of April. The eggs laid by this first or spring 
brood of flies, soon hatch; the second brood of maggots live 
but a few weeks; the "flaxseed" state is soon undergone 
and the autumn or second brood of flies appear in August. 
(In some cases there may be two autumn broods, the 
earliest autumn brood giving rise to a third set of flies in 
September.) The engraving (fig. 85), shows the differ- 
ent states of the insect. The fly of the natural size is 
given at i, its spread of wings being only half an inch. 
6 



122 



llTJUEIOUS li^SECTS 



At Ji is tlie magnified insect. The body is of a dark- 
brown color, the wings dull smoky-brown, and the legs 
of a paler brown than the body. The maggots are shown, 
magnified iwj and h; I shows the "flaxseed'' state. 

3. There are seyeral destructiye Ichneumon parasites 
of the Hessian Fly, whose combined attacks are supposed 
to destroy nine- tenths of all the flies hatched; of these the 
most important is the Chalcid four-winged fly {8emiotel- 
lus destructor'), which infests the "flaxseed"; and the 
egg-parasite {Platyg aster). 

4. By sowing a part of the wheat early, and if affected 
by the fly, plowing and sowing the rest after September 
20th, the wheat crop may in most cases be saved. It 
should be remembered that the first brood should be 
thus circumvented or destroyed in order that a second 
brood may not appear. 

5. If the wheat be only partially affected it may be 
saved by fertilizers and careful cultivation; or a badly 
damaged field of winter wheat may thus be recuperated 
in the siDring. 

6. Pasturing with sheep and consequent close cropping 
of the winter wheat in November and early December may 
cause many of the eggs, larvae and fiaxseeds to be destroyed; 
also, rolling the ground may have nearly the same effect. 

7. Sowing hardy varieties. The "Underbill Mediter- 
ranean" wheat, and especially the "Clawson" variety, 
which tillers vigorously, should be sown in preference 
to the slighter, less vigorous kinds, in a region much 
infested by the fly. The early August sown wheat 
might be "Diehl," the late sown " Clawson." 

8. Of special remedies, the use of lime, soot, or salt, 
may be recommended; also raking off the stubble; but 
too close cutting of the wheat and burning of the stub- 
ble are of doubtful use, as this destroys the useful para- 
sites as well as the flies. 



OF THE FARM AI^D GARDEI^. 



]23 



PROBABLE GEOGRAPHICAL LlillTS OF THE HESSIAK FLY. 

The question iiatarally arises whether this pest will 
ever infest the wheat regions of Western Dakota, Mon- 
tana, Utah, Colorado, and the Pacific States and Terri- 
tories. We belieye not, though aware that such a state- 
ment may he hazardous. It was originally an inhabitant 
of Central and Southern Europe; it has become acclima- 
ted in the Eastern, Atlantic, and Middle States, in the 
Valley of the Upper St. Lawrence and in the Valley of the 
Mississippi River; that it can thrive in the elevated, dry 
Eocky Mountain plateau regions, withstand the cool 
nights and dry, hot atmosphere of the Far West, seems 
very doubtful. At least so slowly has it spread westward; 
so slight an amount of wheat or straw is transported, all 
produce of this kind going eastward, that we doubt 
whether during this century at least it will extend west 
of Kansas and Minnesota, where it has already had a 
foothold for several years. 

Bulletin No. 4 of the Entomological Commission, by 
Dr. A. S. Packard, Jr., gives a full account of the Hes- 
sian Ely, which all interested should be able to procure 
from their representatives in Congress, as these Bulletins 
are published at the expense of the tax-payers. 

THE WHEAT MIDGE. 

{Diplosis tritici, Kirby.) 

The Wlieat Midge was formerly regarded as an insect 
of the same genus with the Hessian Ely, and was known 
as Cecidomyia triticiy but Entomologists now rank it in 
a separate genus, Diplosis. In general appearance the 
parent insect much resembles the Hessian Ely, but it de- 
posits its eggs in the flowers of the wheat. The heads 
of wheat thus attacked are soon seen to shrivel, and upon 
examination there will be found numerous legless mag- 



124 



INJURIOUS IKSECTS 



gots, about one-twelf til of an inch long, and of an orange 
color, among the forming grain, which are popularly 
known as midges, a portion of the larva3 or midges go 
into the ground and pupate, while others are harvested 
with the grain. Some parasitic insects help reduce the 
numbers of the midge, and so far as is known, deep 
plowing, to turn those which have entered the ground 
so deep that they cannot make their way to the surface, 
and the burning of the refuse in the cleaning of the grain, 
are the only artificial helps suggested. 

THE JOINT-WORM. 

{Isosoma hordei, Harris.) 

In certain years and in particular States the crops of 
wheat, of barley, or of rye are greatly injured by a minute 
maggot, popularly known as the Joint- worm." This 
maggot is but little more than one-eighth of an inch 
long, and of a pale-yellow color with the exception of the 
jaws, which are dark-brown. It inhabits a little cell, 
which is situated in the internal substance of the stem of 
the affected plant, usually a short distance aboye the first 
or second knot from the root, the outer surface of the 
stem being elevated in a corresponding elongate blister- 
like swelling; and when, as is generally the case, from 
three to ten of these cells lie close together in the same 
spot, the whole forms a woody enlargement, honey-combed 
by cells, and is in reality a many-celled gall. In figure 
86, a, will be seen a sketch of one of these galls, the lit- 
tle pin-holes being the orifices through which the flies 
produced from the joint-worms have escaped. At first 
sight, these knotty swellings of the stem are apt to elude 
observation, because, being almost always situated just 
above the joint or knot on that stem — whence comes the 
popular name ' 'Joint-worms " — they are enwrapped and 
hidden by the sheath of the blade; but on stripping off 



OF THE FAKM Ai^D GAEDEl^". 



125 



the sheath, as is supposed to have been done in the en- 
graving, they become at once yery conspicuous objects. 
We have observed that the ^^internodes," as botanists 
call them, or the spaces between the knots, in infested 
straws are always much contracted in length, none out of 
a lot of oyer fifty specimens examined by us exceeding 
six inches in length, and many being reduced to only one 
and a half inch. There were only three straws in this 
lot of oyer fifty straws, where two Joint- worm galls were 




Fig. 86. — THE JOINT-WORM {Isosonia hordei, Harris). 
a, Gkills at joints ; b. Female Fly, enlarged, the lines showing the real size. 

found in the same straw; and in all those three cases 
they were found in two adjoining internodes. In a yery 
few instances the galls were situated in the middle of the 
internode, or even close to the upper knot, instead of be- 
ing situated as usual aboye the lower knot. 

AMOUNT OF DAMAGE DONE BY THE JOINT-WORM. 

The damage occasioned by the Joint-worm is, in cer- 
tain seasons and in certain localities, ruinously great. 
In the year 1851, through a large part of Virginia, ac- 
cording to the Editor of the ^'Southern Planter," 



12Q 



INJUEIOUS IXSECTS 



^' many crops of wheat were hardly worth cutting ou ac- 
count of its attacks, and all that we have seen or heard 
of, excei^t one, were badly hurt by it." It first began to 
be observed in that State in 1848, and in subsequent 
years it increased gradually in numbers. According to 
Prof. Cabell, of the University of Virginia, the loss occa- 
sioned by this insect often amounted to one-third of the 
average crop, and sometimes much greater; and m 1851 
^^some farmers did not reap as much as they sowed.'' 
In 1860 the rye crop was considerably injured by this 
little pest in Lycoming Co., Pennsylvania; and according 
to Mr. Norton, the species is very common upon rye "in 
Connecticut and probably the other Xew England States." 
As long ago as 1829, it had been noticed in various pans 
of the New England States to attack the barley, causing 
it in some places " to 3-ield only a very small crop, and 
on some farms not much more than the seed sown;" 
although since that date it does not aj^pear to have been 
materially troublesome in that region. But in Central 
New York, formerly the great barley-growing district of 
America, it has been ruinously destructive to the barley 
from 1850 until the present. 

It is a curious fact that — so far as can be at present 
ascertained — this destructive insect does not appear to 
have reached the Valley of the Mississippi. At all events, 
no complaints from the West of any such attacks as those 
described above, either upon wheat, rye, or barley, have 
hitherto been make public. It is very possible, however, 
that the Joint-worm mav have been confounded in the 
"West with the Hessian Ely [Cecidomyia clestrnctor, Say), 
the larva of which infests the same part of the wheat 
plant, namely, the space immediately above one of the 
lowermost knots in the straw. But this last may be dis- 
tinguished from the Joint-worm by living in the open 
space between the stem and the sheath of the blade, 
although it occasionally imbeds itself pretty deeply in the 



OF THE FAEM AIs^D GAEDEI^". 



127 



external surface of the stem; whereas, the true Joint- 
worm always inhabits a smooth egg-shaped cell in the in- 
ternal substance of that stem. 

XATUEAL HISTOKY OF THE JOIis"T-WOEM. 

The mode in which the Joint-worm produces its de- 
structive effects upon small grain, may be readily ex- 
plained. Xot only is the sap extracted on its course to 
the ear, in order to form the abnormal woody enlargement 
or gall, in which the larvae are imbedded, each in his 
own private and peculiar cell, but a very large supply of 
sap must be wasted in feeding the larvas themeslves. 
Hence the ear that would otherwise be fully developed 
becomes more or less shriveled; although we are told 
that, in the case of barley more particularly, the plant 
tillers out laterally, so as partially to supply the loss of 
the main crop of ears. A similar phenomenon occurs 
with almost all galls that grow upon a slender stem or 
twig, that is, the stem or twig is more or less killed or 
blasted thereby; but when a twig is quite large, this re- 
sult often fails to be developed. 

The Joint-worm Fly (fig. 86, makes its api3ear- 
ance in the Korth in the forepart and middle of June, 
and in southern latitudes in the middle of ^lay. After 
coupling in the usual manner, the female Joint-worm Fly 
proceeds to lay her eggs in the stems of the growing grain. 
The following excellent account of this operation, from 
the pen of Mr. Pettit, is from the Canada Farmer": 

^ 'About the eighth of June, the perfect insects begin 
to make their way out of the galls. ****** 
I watched the growing barley, and on the tenth found 
them actively at work ovipositing in the then healthy 
stalks of the plant. Before commencing operations 
they walk leisurely up one side of the plant as far as 
the last leaf, and then down the other, apparently to 



128 



li^JUEIOUS I^fSECTS 



make sure tJiat it has not ali'eady been oviposited in. 
Head downward, tliey then begin by bending the abdo- 
men downward, and j^lacing the tip of tbe ovipositor on 
the straw at right angles with the body, when the abdo- 
men resumes its natural i^osition, and the ovijDOsitor is 
gradually worked into the plant to its full extent. 
With the aid of a good lens, and by j)ulling up the plants 
on which, they were at work (which, did not apjDear to 
disconcert them in the least), I could view the whole o'p- 
eration, which, in some cases, was accomplished in a few 
minutes, and in others was the work of an hour or two. 
When ja puncture was completed, they usually backed up 
a little and viewed it for a few seconds, and then appar- 
ently satisfied, moved to one side and another began/' 

Very shortly after this time, the egg must hatch out. 
For, ujDon July third, we examined a large lot of the 
gi'een barley-galls, which had been obligingly forwarded 
to us by Mr. Pettit, and found the larva of the Joint- 
worm Fly almost half -grown, that is fi'om 0.004 to 0.006- 
inch long, and about five times as long as wide. 

By the beginning of Sej^tember, the infested grain 
having ripened long before this period, the galls are 
akeady diy and hard, and the larvae contained in them 
full grown, measuring now about 0.13-inch in length. 
The great majority of these larvse are destined to remain 
in that state, enclosed in their little cells, until the suc- 
ceeding spring; but — as happens with many different in- 
sects — a small percentage of them seem to pass into the 
pupa, and thence into the i^erfect state, the same sum- 
mer that the eggs are deposited. For, out of a lot of 
one hundred and twenty-four barley-galls, received Sep- 
tember 10th from Mr. Pettit of TJj)per Canada, thirty- 
nine galls, on very nearly one-third j)art, were alreadv 
bored with the same kind of small round holes as are 
made in the succeeding spring by the escaping Joint- 
worm Flies, some galls containing six such holes, bat 



OF THE FAEM AI^D GAEDEN. 



129 



most of them about three. It is true that we are not 
personally cognizant of the fact, that these holes are 
bored by the same Joint-worm Fly, that escapes from 
similar holes in such profuse abundance in the following- 
June; but Prof. Cabell, of Virginia, stated to Dr. Harris 
with reference to the w^heat-inhabiting Joint-worm, that 
he had knowm a few flies to leave the straw the first year, 
but in each instance the fly which came forth thus was 
the true Joint-worm Fly. As already shown, the flies 
that emerged from these Canada galls in the succeeding 
summer, came out from June 9th to June 16th and sub- 
sequently. — (American Entomologist. ) 

AEMY WORMS. 

The name Army AVorm is somewhat loosely applied to 
several different insects that have the habit of congregat- 
ing in considerable numbers, or in moving from place to 
place in large bodies. In some localities in Western 
New York, the name is given to the Tent Caterpillar of 
the Forest (OUsiocampa sylvatica, Harr.), described 
under fruit trees. 

In some of the Southern States, the Cotton Worm 
{Aletia argillacea, Hubn.), is called Army Worm," and 
more frequently the Cotton Army Worm," an insect 
most exhaustively treated of by Prof. Kiley in Bulletin 
No. 3, of the U. S. Entomological Commission. 

Still another insect, common in the Southern States, 
{Laphrygma frugiperda, Sm. and Abb.), which some- 
times attacks cotton, has been called " Army Worm." 
Its proper name is Southern Crass Worm," and it pre- 
fers grasses and weeds to cotton and other crops. To 
distinguish the true Army Worm from all others to which 
the name has been given, it may be called: 



130 



INJURIOUS IXSZCT5 



TEE 2n'0RTHEEX AR^IY TVORM. 

(Leucania unijjuncfa, Haw.) 

This insect lias from time to time made its appearance 
in destructive numbers. Its earliest recorded ai ipearance 
in the Eastern States, was in IT^o. The years ITTu. 
ISIT. and 1S61, are those in which it is reportfd to have 
been especially trotiblesome in the East: in Ibbl it was 
destructive from Xcav England to Kansas- in 1ST5. it 
visited a lai^ge part of ]\Essouri. and in 1880 was especially 
destructive on Long Island. Prof. C. Y. Eiley was the 
first to give the full history of this insect, in his Eeports 
on the Insects of ]\Iissouri, and in the Walker Prize 
Essay of the Boston Xatttral History Society^ for 18TT; 
from these the following is condensed. 

DESCEIPTIOX or THE IX5ECT. 

The worm when full grown is dingy black in color, 
striped as in figure 87, with a broad dusky stripe along 
the back, divided along the middle by a more or less dis- 
tinct and irregular pale line, and bordered beneath by a 
narrow black line: then a narrow white hue: then a yel- 
lowish stripe: then a narrow, indistinct white line: then 
another dusky stripe: again a narrow white line: then a 
yellow stripe, and, finally, again a faint white line: the 
underside or venter is obscure green. 

The chiysalis (fig. 88) is mahogany-brown in color. 
The moth (fig. 89) is of a fawn color, with a white speck 
near the center of the fi^ont wings and a dusky, obli'jue 
line running inwardly from their tips. 

The eggs are laid in the spring of the year so far as we 
know, and not in the fall as was formerly supposed. 
They are thrust, by means of an ovijiositor, which is 
admirably adapted for this purpose, in between the folded 



OP THE fae:m: a^^d gardej?". 



131 



sides of a grass blade and glued along the grooyes with a 
white, glistening, and adhesive fluid, which not only 
fastens them together but di'aws the two sides of the 
grass blade close around them so as to pretty 
effectually hide them. The female performs this opera- 
tion at night, and is extremely active at the time, laying 
her eggs with great rapidity, so that the ovaries are soon 
emptied. Each individual egg is glistening white at 
first, but becomes dull yellowish toward maturity. The 
female prefers a dry blade to a green one, and is espe- 




Fig. 87.— ARMY WORM, Fig. 89.— MOTH OF AEMT WORM. 



oially prone to oviposit in places where there is a 
thick matting of coarse, last year's grass. The young 
worm hatches in about ten days, and up to the last 
moult has all the habits of an ordinary Cut- Worm, 
the colors being much paler than when full grown, and 
the worm hiding during the day at the base of the grasses. 
When not excessively numerous they retain this their 
normal Cut- Worm habit, and only when they become 
excessively multiplied do they acquire the marching and 
migrating habits. 

Remedies. — Experience has established the fact that 
burning a meadow, or prairie, or field of stubble, in winter 



132 



IJSfJumOUS INSECTS 



or spring, usually prevents the worms from origin ating 
in such meadow or field. Such burning destroys the 
previous year's stalks and blades, and, as a consequence of 

what we have already stated, the nidi which the female < 

moth prefers. Burning as a preventiye, however, loses j 

much of its practical miportance unless it is pursued ] 

annually, because of the irregularity in the appearance of \ 

the Worm in injurious numbers. Judicious ditching, \ 

i. e., a ditch with the side toward the field to be protected ] 

perpeudicular or sloping under, will protect a field from ' 

invasiou from some other infested region when the worms \ 

are marching. When they are collected in the ditch , 
they may be destroyed either by covering them with 

earth that is pressed upon them, by burning straw over 3 

them or by pouring a little coal oil in the ditch. A ■■ 

single plow furrow, six or eight inches deep and kept i 

friable by dragging brush in it, has also been known to i 

head them off. \ 

From experiments which we have made we are satisfied • 

that where fence-lumber can be easily obtained it may be ] 

used to advantage as a substitute for the ditch or trench, \ 

by being secured on edge and then smeared with kerosene \ 

or coal tar, the latter being more particularly useful j 

along the upper edge. By means of laths and. a few \ 

nails the boards may be so secured that they will slightly ^ 
slope away from the field to be protected. Such a 

barrier will prove effectual where the worms are not too ^ 
persistent or numerous. Where they are excessively 

abundant they will need to be watched and occasionally ' 
dosed with kerosene to prevent their piling up even with 

the top of the board and thus bridging the barrier. The \ 

lumber is not injured for other purposes subsequently. \ 
In the invasion of Long Island in 1880, but two methods 

were found successful in checking the march of the Army : 

Worm. Trenches were made by plowing, and in these were i 

distributed freshly cut Eed-top grass, a favorite food with \ 



OF THE FARM AND GAEDEK. 



133 



them, and the grass was sprinkled with a mixture of 
Paris Green or London Purple in water, the same that is 
used for the Colorado Potato-beetle. So long as the 
grass remained fresh, the worms were destroyed by 
millions. Trenches by themselves were of little use, but 
if pits are made at every rod or so in the trench, about a 
foot square, and two feet deep with clean straight sides, 
the worms, in seeking a place to escape from the trench, 
will fall into these pits in great numbers. When one 
pit is nearly full of worms, others may be dug, using 
the earth to bury those already in the pits. The trenches 
should be dressed with the spade, after the plow, to 
make sure of straight smooth sides. 

SUMMARY. 

The following summary of the natural history of the 
Worm is from the 9th Missouri Keport: 

" The insect is with us every year. In ordinary sea- 
sons, when it is not excessively numerous, it is seldom 
noticed. 1st, because the moths are low, swift flyers, and 
nocturnal in habit; 2nd, because the worms, when young, 
have protective coloring, and, vfhen mature, hide during 
the day at the base of grasses. In years of great abun- 
dance the worms are generally unnoticed during early 
life, and attract attention only when, from crowding too 
much on each other, or from having exhausted the food 
supply in the fields in which they hatched, they are 
forced from necessity to migrate to fresh pastures in 
great bodies. The earliest attain full growth and com- 
mence to travel in armies, to devastate our fields, and 
to attract attention, about the time that winter wheat is 
in the milk — this period being two months later in Maine 
than in Southern Missouri; and they soon afterwards 
descend into the ground, and thus suddenly disappear, 
to issue again in two or three weeks as moths. In the 



134 



INJUEIOUS INSECTS 



latitude of St. Louis, the bulk of these moths lay eggs, 
from wliich are produced a second generation of worms, 
which become moths again late in July or early in August. 
Exceptionally a third generation of worms may be pro- 
duced from these. Further north there is but one gener- 
ation annually. The moths hibernate, and oviposit soon 
after vegetation starts in spring. The chrysalides may 
also hibernate, and probably do so to a large extent in 
the more Northern States. The eggs are inserted between 
the sheath and stalk, or secreted in the folds of a blade; 
and mature and perennial grasses are preferred for this 
purpose. The worms abound in wet springs preceded by 
one or more very dry years. They are preyed upon by 
numerous enemies, which so eliectually check their 
increase, whenever they unusually abound, that the 
second brood, when it occurs, is seldom noticed; and two 
great Army Worm years have never followed each other, 
and are not likely to do so." 

THE WHEAT-HEAD AR^TY WORM. 

(Leucania albilinia, Guen). 

There has of late years appeared, first in Pennsylvania 
and Maryland, and later in Kansas and Missouri, an 
insect in many respects like the true Army Worm, but 
which has shown a peculiar tendency to feed upon the 
heads of wheat and other small grains. When newly 
hatched, this differs from the true Army Worm by its 
black head and later by having five instead of seven pale 
lines, and six instead of eight dark ones. The habit of 
feeding upon the grain becomes fixed only when the 
worms are half gToivn, as before that they attack the 
leaves, grass, etc. Several parasitic insects diminish its 
numbers, and it has been suggested that the worms could 
be greatly diminished by setting traps to attract the 
moths by means of lights to poisoned sweet liquids. 



OF THE FARM AND GAKDE2S". 



136 



CLOVER. 

In an invasion of the Rocky Mountain Locust or Grass- 
hopper, the Clover suffers with most other green things, 
but the generally voracious Army Worm, while it occa- 
sionally nibbles at it, usually passes to more acceptable 
plants. There are a few caterpillars of moths now and 
then found upon CloA'er, but are regarded mainly as acci- 
dental. Within a few years, it has been discovered that 




MAGNIFIED. Fig. 91.— CLOVER-SEED MIDGE, FEMALE FLY. 

c, Ovipositor ; d, Joints of Feeler, enlarged. 

this important plant has two enemies, both of such a 
destructive character as to demand attention, one, a 
midge that destroys the seed, the other a borer that 
injures the root. 

THE CLOVER-SEED MIDGE. 
(Ceddomyia trifolii, Riley.) 

This insect was described and figured in the " Ameri- 
can Agriculturist" for July 1879. The larva (fig. 90, 
much magnified), is of a bright orange-red color, lives 
within the Clover-heads, and by exhausting them of 



136 



INJURIOUS IN'SECTS 



tlieir juices, causes the seed to shrivel and become worth- 
less. When they have made their growth, these Midges 
either enter the ground, or hide under rubbish 
on the surface, and form a tough silken cocoon, 
with particles of earth adhering. Some of the flies 
appear in September, and others not until the following 
spring. Figure 91 gives a highly magnified view of the 
female fly and its details. Thus far this insect's ravages 
have been confined to the Central and Western parts of 
the State of New York, and the only remedy that has 
been suggested is, for farmers in localities where the 
Midge prevails, to stop growing clover-seed for several 
years, or until the insect is starved out. 

THE CLOVEE-EOOT BOEER. 
{Hylesinus trifolii, Miller.) 

This is an imported insect which has made itself at 
home in Central New York, and in a number of localities 
has caused a general failure of the Clover croj). It 
was first described and figured in the "American 
Agriculturist" for November 1879. The engraving 
(fig. 92,) shows the appearance of the Clover, a, after the 
attack of this insect, and the insect itself in its various 
stages of larva, i, pupa c, and the perfect beetle d. It 
passes the winter in either of these three states, and in 
early spring the insects issue and pair. The female then 
instinctively bores into the crown of the root, eating a 
pretty large cavity, wherein she deposits from four to six 
pale, whitish, elliptical eggs. These hatch in about a 
week, and the young larvae at first feed in the cavity 
made by the parent. After a few days, however, they 
begin to burrow downward, extending to the difl'erent 
branches of the root. The galleries made in burrowing 
run pretty regularly along the axis of the roots, as shown 
in the engraving, and are filled with brown excrement. 
The pupa is formed in a smooth cavity, generally at the 



OF THE FAEM AlsB GAEDEif, 



137 



end of one of these burrows, and may be found in small 
numbers as early as September, 

It is the custom in Western !N"ew York to sow the 
Clover in spring on ground already sown to fall wheat. 
This is generally done while 
snow is yet on the ground, or 
while the frost is disappear- 
ing. The Cloyer is allowed 
to go to seed in the fall, and 
usually produces but little. 
During the second year one 
crop of hay and a crop of 
seed are obtained. It is dur- 
ing the second year the injury 
of the Koot-borer is most ob- 
served. 

One observer reports that 
this insect has attacked all 
the clover in portions of Gen- 
esee County, I examined 
clover in some half a dozen 
fields during a ride of ten 
miles, and found every plant 
I pulled up was more or 

less iniured. While most of a, injured stem and root; b, Larva; 

c, Pupa ; d, Beetle, enlarged. 

the plants are yet alive, they 

are of little value for hay, seed, or pasture. The only 
remedy thus far suggested is, to plow under all the clover 
found to be infested in the spring of the second year. 
Some parasites are known to prey on this insect, which 
may diminish it. 

THE CLOYER-WORM. 

(Asopia costalis, Fabr.) 

This insect, like the preceding introduced from Europe, 
has been occasionally noticed for the last twenty years, 




Fio;. 92.— CLOVEK-ROOT BORER 

{HyUsinus trifolii, Miller. ) 



138 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



and now, in some localities, from New England to Mich- 
igan and Illinois, it often occurs in troublesome numbers. 
It attacks the clover in the mow or stack, webbing the 
stems together with multitudes of silken threads, among 
which is such an abundance of black excrement as to un- 
fit the clover for feeding to animals. The white cocoons 
are present in such numbers, that one, without close 
examination, would pronounce the hay to be mouldy. 




Fig. 93. — CLOVER-WORM {Asopia costalis, Fabr.) 



1 aud 2, Larva ; 3, Cocoon , 4, Pupa ; 5 aud 6, the Moth , 7, the Web. 

The insects are usually found at the liottom of the stack. 
Figure 93 shows the insect in its various stages, 1 and 2 
represent the larva, 3 the cocoon, 4 the pupa, 5 and 6 the 
moth, and 7 the white web in which the worm for the 
most part lives. The moth is one of our prettiest 
species, being of a reddish-brown color with golden-yellow 
markings and fringe to its wings. It is suggested as a 
preventive, that hay containing clover should not be 
stacked twice in the same place, and that the stack should 
be placed upon log or other foundations, that will allow" 
of thorough ventilation from below. 



Insects Injurious to Frsiit Trees. 



APPLE-TEEE BOREES. 

THE ROUND-HEADED APPLE-TREE BORER. 
(Saperda bivittata, Say.) 

It is an admitted fact that apple trees on the ridges 
are shorter lived than those grown on our lower lands. 
Hitherto no particular reason has been given for this oc- 
currence, but it appears to be mainly attributed to the 
workings of the borer now under consideration. It has 
been invariably found more j^lentif ul in trees growing on 
high land than in those on low land, and worse in 
plowed orchards than on those which are seeded down 
to grass. Fifty years ago, large, thrifty, long-lived 
trees were exceedingly common, and were obtained 
with comparatively little effort on the part of our an- 
cestors. They had not the vast army of insect enemies 
to contend with, which at the present day makes suc- 
cessful fruit growing difficult. This Apple-Tree Borer 
was entirely unknown until Thomas Say described it in 
the year 1834; and, according to Dr. Eitch, it was not 
until the year following that its destructive character be- 
came known in the vicinity of Albany, N. Y., for the 
first time. Yet it is a native American insect, and has 
for ages inliabited our indigenous Crab-apple trees from 
which trees Mr. A. Bolter took numerous specimens, in 
the vicinity of Chicago, ten years ago. It also attacks the 
Quince, Mountain-ash, Hawthorn, Pear, and the June- 
berry. Few persons are aware to what an alarming ex- 
139 



140 



I]N'JUKTOUS IJTSECTS 



tent this insect is infesting the orchards in various local- 
ities. A tree becomes unhealthy and eyentually dwindles 
and dies^ often without the owner haying the least sus- 
picion of the true cause — the gnawing worm within. 

At figure 94 this borer is represented in its three stages 
of larya [a), pupa (b), and perfect beetle (c). The bee- 
tle may be known by the popular name of the Two- 
striped Saperda, while its larya is best known by the 
name of the Round-headed Apple-Tree Borer, in contra- 
distinction to the flat-headed species next treated of. 




Fig. 94. — ROUND-HEADED APPLE-TREE BORER {Sapevda MvUtata, Say.) 
a. Larva ; b, Pupa ; c, Beetle. 



The average length of the larya, when full grown, is 
about one inch, and the width of the first segment is not 
quite one-fourth of an inch. Its color is light-yellow, 
with a tawny-yellow spot of a more horny consistency on 
the first segment, which, under a lens, is found to be 
formed of a mass of dark-brown spots. The head is 
chestnut-brown, polished and horny, and the jaws are 
deep-black. The pupa is of rather lighter color than the 
larya, and has transverse rows of minute teeth on the 
back, and a few at the extremity of the body; the perfect 
beetle has two longitudinal white stripes between three 
of a light cinnamon-brown color. The Two- striped Sa- 
perda makes its appearance in the beetle state during the 
months of May and June, and is seldom seen by any but 



OF THE FA KM A]^D GAEDEK. 



141 



the entomologist who makes a point of hunting for it, as 
it remains quietly hidden by day and flies and moyes only 
by night. The female deposits her eggs during the 
month of June, mostly at the foot of the tree, and the 
young worms hatch and commence boring into the bark 
within a fortnight afterwards. These young worms dif- 
fer in no essential from the full grown specimens, except 
in the very minute size; and they invariably live for the 
first year of their lives on the sap-wood and inner bark, 
excavating shallow, flat cavities which are found stuffed 
full of their saw-dust like castings. The hole by which 
the newly hatched worm penetrates is so very minute that 
it frequently fills up, though not before a few grains of 
castings have fallen from it, but the presence of the woims 
may be generally detected, especially in young trees, from 
the bark, under which they lie, becoming darkened, and 
sufficiently dry and dead to contract and form cracks. 
Through these cracks, some of the castings of the worm 
generally protrude, and fall to the ground in a little heap, 
and this occurs more especially in the spring of the year, 
when, with the rising sap and frequent rains, such cast- 
ings become swollen and augment in bulk. Some have 
supposed that the worm makes these holes to push out its 
own excrement, and that it is forced to do this to make 
room for itself; but, though it may sometimes gnaw a hole 
for this purpose, such an instance has never come to our 
knowledge, and that it is necessary to the life of the worm 
is simply a delusion, for there are hundreds of boring in- 
sects who never have recourse to such a procedure, and 
this one is frequently found below the ground, where it 
cannot possibly thus get rid of its castings. It is cur- 
rently supposed that this borer penetrates into the heart 
wood of the tree after the first year of its existence, 
whereas the Elat-headed borer is supposed to remain for 
the most part immediately under the bark; but on these 
points no rule can be given, for the Flat-headed species 



142 



IlfjURIOUS INSECTS 



also frequently penetrates into the solid heart wood, while 
the one under consideration is often found in a full 
grown state just under the inner bark, or in the sap 
wood. The usual course of its life however runs as fol- 
lows: 

As winter approaches, the young borer descends as near 
the ground as its burrow will allow, and doubtless remains 
inactive until the following spring. On approach of tlie 
second winter it is about one-half grown, and still living 
on the sap-wood; and it is at this time that these borers 
do the most damage, for where there are four or six in a 
single tree, they almost completely girdle it. During 
the next summer, when the worm has become about 
three-fourths grown, it generally commences to cut a 
cylindrical passage upward into the solid wood, and be- 
fore it has finished its larval growth, it invariably extends 
this passage right to the bark, sometimes cutting entirely 
through a tree to the opposite side from which it com- 
menced; sometimes turning back at different angles. It 
then stuffs the upper end of the passage with sawdust- 
like powder, and the lower part with curly fibres of wood, 
after which it rests from its labors. It thus finishes its 
gnawing work during the commencement of the third 
winter, but remains motionless in the larval state until 
the following spring, when it casts off its skin once more 
and becomes a pupa. After resting three weeks in the 
pupa state, it appears as a beetle, with all its members 
and parts at first soft and weak. These gradually harden, 
and in a fortnight more it cuts its way through its saw- 
dust-like castings, and issues from the tree through a per- 
fectly round hole. Thus it is in the tree a few days less 
than three years, and not merely two years as Dr. Fitch 
suggests. 

Remedies. — From this brief sketch of the Eound- 
headed borer, it becomes apparent that plugging the 
holes to keep him in, is on a par with locking the stable 



OF THE FAEM AXD GARDEJf. 



143 



door to keep the liorse in, after lie is stolen; even suppos- 
ing there were any philosoj)hY in the plugging system, 
which there is not; the round smooth holes ?.re infallible 
indication thai the borer has left, while the plugging up 
of any other holes or cracks where the castings are seen, 
will not affect the intruder. This insect probably has 
some natural enemies, belonging to its own great class, 
and some wood-peckers doubtless seek it out from its 
retreat and devour it; but its enemies are certainly not 
sufficiently under our control, and to grow healthy apple 
trees, we have to fight it artificially. Here again preven- 
tion will prove better than cure, and a stitch in time will 
not only save nine, but fully ninety-nine. 

Experiments have amply proved that alkaline washes are 
repulsive to this insect, and the female beetle will not lay 
her eggs upon trees protected by such washes. Keep the 
base of every tree in the orchard free from weeds and 
trash, and apply soap to them during the month of May, 
and they will not probably be troubled with borers. For 
this purpose soft-soap or common bar soap can be used. 
The last is perhaps the most convenient, and the newer 
and softer it is the better. Home-made soft-soap, such 
as is prepared on many farms from ley of wood-ashes, 
^ usually contains an Recess of alkali, and when thinned 
with water, so that it will work Avith a brush is excellent. 
This borer confines himself almost entirely to the base of 
the tree, though very rarely it is found in the crotch. It 
is therefore only necessary in soaping, to rub over the 
lower part of the trunk and the crotch, but is a very 
good plan to lay a piece of hard soap in the principal 
crotch, so that it may be washed down by the rains. In 
case these precautions have not been taken, and the 
borer is already at work, many of them may be killed by 
cutting through the bark at the upper end of their bur- 
rows, and gradually pouring hot water into the cuts, so 
that it will soak through the castings, and penetrate to 



144 



I2srjURiOUS IXSECTg 



the insect. But even wliere tlie soap prerentiye is used 
in the month of Ma}^^ it is always advisable to examine 
the trees in the fall, at which time the young worms that 
hatched through the summer may be generally detected, 
and easily cut out without injury to the tree. Particular at- 
tention should also be paid to any tree that has been injured 
or sun-scalded, as such trees are most liable to be attacked. 



THE FLAT-HEADED APPLE-TREE BORER. 
{Chrysohothris femorata, Fabr.) 

This borer which is presented in the larva state at 
figure 95, a, may at once be recognized by it anterior ends 
being enormously enlarged and 
flattened. It is paler than the 
preceding, and makes an entirely 
different burrow. In consequence 
of its immensely broad and flat- 
tened head, it bores a hole of an 
oval shape, and twice as wide as 
high. It never acquires much 
more than half the size of the 
other species, and is almost al- 
ways found with its tail curled 
Fig. 95.— FLAT-HEADED complctely round towards the 

APPLE-TREE BOKEB ( (-'^''U^^^ r^Q T+ liTPc; hiif onp vpav i-n 

botJiris femorata, -Fnhr.) ^^aa. it n^cs Dut One yeai m 
a, Larva ; b, Pupa; cupper joints the tree, and prodticcs the beetle 

of Larva seen from beneath ; , , n -, ' ^ 

d, Beetle. represented at figure 9o, a, which 

is of a greenish-black color, with brassy lines and spots 
above, the underside appearing like burnished copper. 
This beetle flies by day instead of by night, and may often 
be found on different trees basking in the sunshine. It at- 
tacks not only the Apple, but the Peach, also the Soft i\Ia- 
ple. Oak, and is said to attack a variety of other forest 
trees; though, since the larvae of the family {Buprestidce), 
to which it belongs, all bear a striking resemblance to each 




OF THE FARM Ai^D GARDEiiT, 



145 



other, it is possible that this particular species has been 
accused of raore than it deserves. It is, however, but 
far too common in the Valley of the Mississippi, and 
along the Iron Mountain and Pacific railroads; it is even 
more common than the preceding species. 

Mr. G-. Paul, of Eureka, states that it has killed fifty 
apple trees for him, and Mr. Yotaw, and many others in 
that neighborhood have suffered from it in like manner. 
It is also seriously affecting the soft maples by riddling 
them through and through, though it confines itself for 
the most part to the inner bark, causing peculiar black 
scars and holes in the trunk. Unless its destructive work 
is soon checked, it bids fair to impair the value of this 
tree for shade and ornamental purposes, as effectually as 
the Locust-borers have done with the Locust trees. 

Eemedies. — Dr. Fitch found that this borer was at- 
tacked by the larvae of souie parasitic fly belonging prob- 
ably to the Chalcis family, but it is greatly to be feared 
that this parasite is as yet unknown in the West. At all 
events this Flat-headed borer is far more common with 
our Eastern brethren. As this beetle makes its appear- 
ance during the months of May and June, and as the eggs 
are deposited on the trunk of the tree, as with the pre- 
ceding species, the same method of cutting them out, or 
scalding them can be ap^olied in the one case as in the 
other; while the soap preventive is proved to be equally 
effectual with this species as with the other. It must, 
however, be applied more generally over the tree, as they 
attack all parts of the trunk, and even the larger limbs. 

THE APPLE-TWIG BORER. 
(Amphicerus bicaudatus, Say.) 

The Apple-twig borer is a modest looking dark-brown 
insect, the thorax rounded and rough-punctured, espec- 
ially in front where it is produced into two little horns, 
7 



146 



i^TJURIOUS li^^SECTS 



and covered with small rasp-like prominences. The 
wing-covers are also rough-punctured, and while in the 
female (fig. 96, a), they have but a slight keel-like eleva- 
tion at the hind end, they are furnished in the male (fig. 
96, b), with two little horns, from which characteristic 
the specific name (two-tailed) is derived. 

The holes made in the twigs, generally have their en- 
trance just above a bud or fork as at figure 97, c. This 
insect is not known to bore more than an inch and a-half 
into the twig (fig. 97, d), and the holes are generally 
made downwards, and in the wood of the previous year's 
growth, though they are sometimes exceptionally bored 
upward and in three-year old wood. The beetles seem 
to prefer some particular varieties, such as Benoni and 

a b 

Fig. 96.— APPLE-TWIG 
BORER. 
a Female ; h, Male. 

Eed June, to other varieties of the Apple, and though 
they likewise occur in Pear and Peach stems, and in the 
Grape, they have not been found in those of the Crab-apple. 

Both the male and female beetles bore these holes, and 
may always be found in them, head downwards, during 
the winter and spring months. The holes are made for 
food and protection, and not for breeding purposes. In- 
deed, common as this insect is, its preparatory stages are 
entirely unknown, and whoever will ascertain its larval 
history, will confer a favor on the community. 

The bored twigs almost always break off by the wind, 
or else the hole catches the water in spring and causes an 
unsound place in the tree. If the twig does not break 
off, it withers and the leaves turn brown. The only way 




Fig. 97. — APPLE-TWIG BORER, 
c, Puncture ; d, Interior of Stem. 



01 THE FARM AND GARDEN. 



147 



to counteract the injuries committed by this beetle, is to 
prune the infested twigs, wheneyer found, and take great 
care to burn them with tlieir contents.' It is in the nur- 
sery that most damage is done by this insect, as it is sel- 
dom numerous enough in an orchard of large trees to 
more than cause what the philosophic orchardist has 
termed " a good summer pruning." 



BARK-LICE. 

The Bark-lice belong to the Order Hemiijtera, in 
which they form the group or family, CoccidecB, so named 
from the genus Coccus, one species 
of which is the remarkable Cochineal 
Insect. Several of these insects are 
very injurious to the Orange trees and 
others of that Family; one infests the 
Osage Orange, while at least two at- 
tack our orchard trees, especially the 
Apple, though the Pear, Quince, etc., 
are often infested by them. 

HAREIS'S BARK-LOUSE. 
(Aspidiotus Harrisii, Walsh.) 

This appears upon the trunks of 
small trees, and the branches of older -pig. 98.— harris-b 
ones, in the form of dirty-white scales, bark-louse. 
which are usually irregularly egg-shaped; but, however 
variable in outline, it is always quite flat and causes the 
infested tree to wear the appearance of figure 98; while 
the minute eggs which are found under it in winter time 
are invariably blood-red or lake-red. This species has 
scarcely ever been known to increase sufficiently to do 




148 



IKJUEIOUS IHSECTS 



material damage, for the reason, doubtless, that there 
haye, hitherto, always been natural enemies and parasites 
enough to keep it in due bounds. 

THE OYSTER-SHELL BARK-LOUSE. 

{Mytilaspis pomicorticis, Riley.) 

The Oyster-shell Bark-louse, was formerly known as 
Aspidiotus conchiformis, but changed by Prof. Kiley for 
good reasons to the name given above. It is one of the 
most pernicious and destructive insects with which the 

apple-grower in the North- 
ern States has to contend. 
This species presents the 
appearance of figure 99, 
and may always be dis- 
Fig. 99.-OTSTER-SHELL BARK- tiuguishcd from the pre- 
i^ousE. ceding, by having a very 

uniform mussel-shaped scale of an ash-gray color (the 
identical color of the bark), and by these scales, contain- 
ing, in the winter time, not red, but pure white eggs. 

There is scarcely an apple-orchard in J^orthern Illinois, 
in Iowa, or in Wisconsin, that has not suffered more or 
less from its attacks, and many an one has been slowly 
but surely bled to death by this tiny sap-sucker. It was 
introduced into the Eastern States about the beginning 
of the present century, from Europe, and had already 
reached as far west as Wisconsin in 1840, from whence it 
spread at a most alarming rate throughout the districts 
bordering on Lake Michigan. It occurs at the present 
time in Minnesota and Iowa, but whether or not it 
extends westward beyond the Missouri River, there are 
no data to show. Its extension southward is undoubtedly 
limited, for though so abundant in the northern half of 




OF THE FAEM Al^B GAEDEK. 



149 



Illinois, obseryation has shown that it does not exist in 
the southern half of the same State. 

As the female Bark-louse is only capable of motion for 
two to three days at the most, after which time she 
becomes as permanently fixed for the rest of her life, as is 
the tree on which she is fastened, it may puzzle some to 
diA^ne how this insect spreads from tree to tree, and place 
to place. That it is transported to distant places, mainly 
on young trees, there can be no doubt, and there are 
various ways in which it can spread from tree to tree in 
the same orchard, though it can only thus spread during 
the few days of its active larval state. 

Though essentially belonging to the Apple Tree, this 
Oyster-shell Bark-louse, is found upon the Currant, the 
Plum, and the Pear. I have seen the scales fully 
developed, and bearing healthy eggs on the fruit of the 
AYhite Doyenne Pear, of the Transcendent Crab, and of 
AYild Plum [Prunus Americana)', and, though on the 
hard bark of a tree, we cannot judge of the amount of 
sap they absorb, it is quite apparent on these soft fruits, 
for each scale causes a considerable depression from the 
general surface. 

Remedies. — If an orchard is once attacked before the 
owner is aware of it, much could be done on the young 
trees by scraping the scales off in winter, but on large 
trees, where it is difficult to reach all the terminal twigs, 
this method becomes altogether impracticable, and it 
will avail but little to cleanse the trunk alone, as most of 
the scales containing living eggs will be found on the 
terminal branches. Alkaline washes, and all other 
washes, except those of an oily nature, such as petroleum 
and kerosene, are of no avail when applied to the scales, 
for the simple reason that they do not penetrate and 
reach the eggs which are so well protected by these 
scales; and it is very doubtful whether any solution can 
be used, that is sufficiently oily to penetrate the scales 



150 



IKJUEIOUS IJSTSECTS 



1 



and kill the eggs without injury to the tree, especially 
while the sap of the tree is inactive. Hence the Bark- 
louse can only be successfully fought at the time the eggs 
are hatching, and the young lice are crawling oyer the 
limbs. The time of year in which this occurs, are the 
last days of May and the first days of June, but without 
close scrutiny they will not be observed, as they appear 
like yery minute, white, moving specks. While the 
young larvae are thus crawling over the tree, they are so 
tender that they can be readily destroyed by sim^ply 
scrubbing the limbs with a stiff brush. 

With regard to washes to be used with a syringe, the 
late Dr. Jno. Kennicott used one pound of Sal. Soda, to 
one gallon of water with good effect; Mr. E. Gr. Mygatt, 
of Eichmond, McHenry County, Illinois, has experi- 
mented with this insect for over twenty years, with the 
following result: Brine (2 quarts salt to 8 of water), kills 
the lice, but also the foliage and fruit. Tobacco-water 
(strong decoction), neither injures the foliage nor affects 
the lice. Weak Lye, while it kills the lice, will also some- 
what affect the leaves. Lime-water kills about half the 
lice, and affects the leaves a little. Finally, a decoction 
of Quassia, though well known to be effectual for the 
common Plant-lice, has no effect on these Coccids. In 
short, we have abundant proof that neither Tobacco- 
water, nor strong Alkaline washes, have any effect on the 
young lice, though a strong solution of soap will kill 
them, and my experience the past season, with Oresylic 
Acid soap in other directions, leads me to strongly 
recommend it for this purpose. It will sometimes be nec- 
essary to repeat the wash, as the lice do not all hatch out 
the same day, though the period of hatching seldom 
extends over three days. 

From the foregoing it is obvious that Bark-lice can 
only be successfully fought during three or four days of 
the year; how absurd and ridiculous then, are all the 



or THE FAEM AND GAKDEIS'. 



151 



patent nostrums and compounds, which are continuously 
offered to the public as perfect ^' Bark-lice extinguishers," 
and which never mention this important fact. 

One case was reported to the American Agricul- 
turist" a few years ago, by the owner of a Pear Tree 
badly covered with this Bark-louse. Painters were at 
work painting the house, and in a fit of desperation he 
took a brush and painted the tree from the ground to the 
end of the smallest branch, expecting of course to kill it. 
Much to his sur23rise, the tree pushed its shoots as readily 
as ever, and was perfectly free from the insect. Another 
case was reported in the same journal of the efficacy of 
Crude Petroleum, used in the same manner on young 
Apple trees. These however may be regarded as desperate 
cases, and are only given as hints. 

THE APPLE-TREE TENT-CATERPILLAR. 
{Clisiocampa Americana, Harr.) 

What orchardist in the older States of the Union is 
not familiar with the white web-nests of this caterpillar? 
As they glisten in the rays of the spring sun before the 
trees have put on their full summer dress, these nests, 
which are then small, speak volumes of the negligence 
and slovenliness of the owner of the orchard, and tell more 
truly than almost any thing else why it is that he fails 
and has bad luck with his apple crop. Wherever these 
nests abound one feels morally certain that the borers, 
the Codling-moth, and the many other enemies of the 
apple tree, have full play to do as they please, unmolested 
and unnoticed by him whom they are ruining. 

The small, bright and glistening web, if unmolested, is 
soon enlarged until it spreads over whole branches, and 
the caterpillars which were the architects, in time become 



152 



IJSTJUEIOUS INSECTS 



motlis, and they lay their eggs for an increased supply 
of nests another year. 

This insect is so well known throughout the country 
that it is only necessary to give here the most prominent 
and important points in its history, the more especially 




Fig. 100. — APPLE-TREE TENT-CATERPILLAR ( Olmocampa Ammcana, Harr.) 
a, Side View ; b, Back View of Caterpillar ; c, Eggs ; d, Cocoon. 

as the figures herewith given will alone enable the novice 
to recognize it the mioment it appears in a young orchard. 

The eggs (fig. 100, c), from which these caterpillars 
hatch are deposited mostly during the month of June, in 
oval rrngs, upon the smaller twigs, and this peculiar 
mode of deposition renders them conspicuous objects 
during the winter time, when by a little practice they can 



OF THE FARM AND GARDEK. 



153 




easily be distinguished from tlie buds, knots, or swellings 
of the naked twigs. Each cluster consists of from two 
to three hundred eggs, and is covered and protected from 
the weather by a coating of glutinous matter, and the 
same temperature which causes the apple-buds to swell 
and burst, quickens the vital energies of these larvae and 
causes them to eat their way out of their eggs. Very 
often they hatch during a prematurely warm spell, and 
before there is any green leaf for them to feed upon, but 
they are so tough and hardy that they can fast for many 
days with impunity, and the glutinous substance on the 
outside of their eggs furnishes good sustenance and 
gives them strength at 
first. It is even as- 
serted by Mr. H. 0. 
Raymond, of Council 
Bluffs, Iowa, that the 
eggs often hatch in the 
fall, and that in these ^^s- ioi.-apple-tree tent- 

' CATERPILLAB, MOTH. 

cases the larvae with- 
stand the severity of the winter with impunity. 

The young caterpillars commence spinning the moment 
they are born, and indeed they never move without ex- 
tending their thread wherever they go. All the individ- 
uals hatched from the same batch of eggs work together 
in harmony, and each performs its share of building the 
common tent, under which they shelter when not feed- 
ing and during inclement weather. They usually feed 
twice each day, namely, once in the forenoon and once in 
the afternoon. After feeding for five or six weeks, 
during which time they change their skins four times, 
these caterpillars acquire their full growth, when they ap- 
pear as at fig. 100 {a side view, b back view), the colors 
being black, white, blue and rufous or reddish. They 
then scatter in all directions in search of some cozy and 
sheltered nook, such as the crevice or angle of the fence. 



154 



IKJUKIOUS INSECTS 



and haying finally decided on the spot, each one spins an 
oblong-oval yellow cocoon (fig. 100, d), the silk composing 
which is intermixed with a yellow fluid or paste, which 
dries into a powder looking something like sulphur. A 
few indiyiduals almost always remain and spin up in the 
tent, and these cocoons will be found intermixed with the 
black excrement long after the old tent is deserted. 

Within this cocoon the caterpillar soon assumes the 
chrysalis state, and from it, at the end of about three 
Aveeks, the perfect insect issues as a dull yellowish-brown 
or a reddish-brown moth (fig. 101), characterized chiefly 
by the front wings being divided into three nearly equal 
parts by two transverse whitish or pale-yellowish lines, 
and by the middle space between these lines being paler 
than in the rest of the wing in the males, though it is 
more often of the same color, or even darker in the fe- 
males. The species is, however, very variable. 

The moths do not feed, and the sole aim of their lives 
seems to be the perpetuation of their kind; for as soon 
as they have paired and each female has carefully con- 
signed her eggs to some twig, they die, and when the 
proper time comes around again the eggs will hatch, and 
the same cycle of changes take place each year. 

This insect in all probability extends wherever the 
wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotind) is found, as it pre- 
fers this tree to all others; and this is probably the reason 
why the young so often hatch out before the apple buds 
burst, because, as is well known, the Cherry leaves out 
much earlier. Besides the Cherry and Apple, both wild 
and cultivated, the Apple-Tree Tent-caterpillar will feed 
upon Plum, Thorn, Rose, and perhaps on most plants be- 
longing to the Rose family, though the Peach is not con- 
genial to it, and it never attacks the Pear, upon which 
it is said that it will starve. It does well on Willow and 
Poplar, and even on White Oak, according to Fitch, who 
also found it on Witch Hazel {EamameMs) and Beech. 



OF THE FAEM AKD GAKDE^T. 155 

Eemedies. — 1^0 insect is more readily kept in sub- 
jection than this. Cut off and burn the egg-clusters 
during winter, and examine the trees carefully in the 
spring for the nests from such clusters as may have 
eluded the winter search. The eggs are best seen in a dull 
day in winter when they show distinctly against the sky. 
Though to kill the caterpillars numerous methods have 
been resorted to, such as burning, and swabbing with oil, 
soap suds, lye, etc., they are all unnecessary, for the nests 
should not be allowed to get large, and if taken when 
small are most easily and effectually destroyed by going 
over the orchard with the fruit-ladder, and by the use of 
gloved bands. As the caterpillars feed twice a day, once 
in the forenoon and once in the afternoon, and as they 
are almost always in their nests till after nine A. M., and 
late in the evening, the early and late hours of the day 
are the best in which to perform the operation. As a 
means of facilitating their destruction, it would be a good 
plan, as Dr. Fitch has suggested, to place a few Wild 
Cherry trees in the vicinity of the orchard, and as the 
moths will mostly be attracted to such trees to deposit 
their eggs, and as a hundred clusters on a single tree are 
destroyed more easily than if they were scattered over a 
hundred trees, these trees will repay the trouble wherever 
the Tent-caterpillar is known to be a grievous pest. 

THE TENT-CATERPILLAR OF THE FOREST. 

(Clisiocampa sylvatica, Harr.) 

The egg-mass from which the Tent-caterpillar of th: 
Forest hatches (fig. 102, a, showing it after the young larv83 
have escaped) may at once be distinguished from that of 
the common Tent-caterpillar by its being of a uniform 
diameter, and docked off squarely at each end. It is usu- 
ally composed of about four hundred eggs, (the number 



156 



IKJUEIOUS I^fSECTS 



in five masses ranging from three hundred and eighty to 
four hundred and sixteen). Each of the eggs composing 
this mass is of a cream-white color, 0.04 inch long and 
0.025 inch wide, narrow and rounded at the attached end 
or base, gradually enlarging towards the to]^, where it 
becomes slightly smaller (fig. 102, d), and abruptly ter- 
minates with a prominent circular rim on the outside, 
and a sunken spot in the center (c). These eggs are de- 
posited in circles, the female moth stationing herself, for 
this purpose, in a transverse position across the twig. 
With abdomen curved she gi-adually moves as the depo- 




Fig. 102. — TENT-CATERPLLLAK OF THE FOREST (CHsiocampa sylvatico). 
a, Egg-mass ; b, Moth ; c, top of Egg ; d, Eggs. 

sition goes on, and when one circle is completed, she 
commences another — and not before. With each egg is 
secreted a brown varnish which firmly fastens it to the 
twig and to its neighbor, and which, wpon becoming dry, 
forms a net-work of brown over the pale egg-shell. 
These eggs are so regularly laid and so closely glued to 
each other, and the sides are often so appressed, that the 
moth economizes space almost as effectually as does the 
Honey-])ee in the formation of its hexagonal cells. 

The eggs are deposited, in the latitude of St. Louis, 
during the latter part of June. The embryo develops 
during the hot summer weather and the yet unborn larva 



OF THE fae:^ axd gaedex. 



157 



is fiillj formed by the time Trinter comes on. They hatch 
with the first warm weather, in S23ring — generally from 
the middle to the last of March — and though the buds of 
their food-plant may not have opened at the time, and 
though it may freeze severely afterwards, yet these little 
creatures are wonderfully hardy, and can fast for three 
whole weeks, if need be, and withstand any amount of 
inclement weather. The very moment these little larvae 
are born, they commence spinning a web wherever they 
go. At this time they are black with pale hairs, and are 
always found either huddled together or travelling in file 
along the silken 2^aths which they form when in search 
of food. In about two weeks from the time they com- 
mence feeding they go through their first moult, having 
first grown paler or of a light yellowish-brown, with the 
extremities rather darker than the middle of the body, 
with the little warts which give rise to the hairs quite 
distinct, and a conspicuotis dark interrupted line each 
side of the back. After the first moult, they are cliarac- 
terized principally by two pale-yellowish subdorsal lines, 
which border what was before the dark line above de- 
scribed. After the second moult, which takes place in 
about a week from the first, the characteristic pale spots 
on the back appear, the upper pale line becomes yellow, 
the lower one white, and the space between them bluish: 
indeed, the characters of the mature larva are from this 
period apparent. Very soon they undergo a third moult, 
after which the colors all become more distinct and fresh, 
the head and anal plate have a soft bluish velvety appear- 
ance, and the hairs seem more dense. After undergoing 
a fourth moult without material change in appearance, 
they acquire their full growth in about six weeks from 
the time of first feeding. At this time they appear as at 
figure 103. 

At this stage of its growth the Tent-caterpillar of the 
Forest may be seen wandering singly over different trees, 



158 



IKJUEIOUS IIS^SECTS 



along roads, on the tops of fences, etc. , in search of a 
suitable place to form its cocoon. It usually contents 
itself with folding a leaf or drawing several together for 
this purpose, though it frequently spins up under fence 
boards and in other sheltered situations. The cocoon is 
much like that of the common Tent-caterpillar, being 
formed of a loose exterior covering of white silk with the 
hairs of the larva interwoven, and by a more compact 
oval inner pod that is made stifi by the meshes being 
filled with a thin yellowish paste from the mouth of the 
larva, which paste, when dried, gives the cocoon the ap- 
pearance of being dusted with powdered sulphur. Three 
days after the cocoon is completed the caterpillar casts 
its skin for the last time and becomes a chrysalis of a red- 



dish-brown color, slightly dusted with a pale powder, and 
densely clothed with short pale yellow hairs, which at 
the blunt and rounded extremity are somewhat larger and 
darker. In a couple of weeks more, or during the fore- 
part of June, the moths commence to issue, and fly about 
at night. This moth (fig. 102, 5, female), bears a consid- 
erable resemblance to that of the Common Tent-caterpil- 
lar (fig. 101), being of a brownish yellow or rusty brown, 
and having two oblique transverse lines across the front 
wings. It differs, however, in the color being paler or 
more yellowish, especially on the thorax; in the space be- 
tween the oblique lines being usually darker instead of 
lighter than that on either side; but principally in the 
oblique lines themselves being dark instead of light, and 
in a transverse shade, often quite distinct, across the 
hind wings. As in C, Americana, the male is smaller 




Fig. 103.— TENT-CATEKPILLAR OF THE FOREST. 



OF THE 7AE:S1 AJsD GAKDEi^". 



159 



than the female, with the wings shorter and cut off more 
squarely. Considerable yariation may be found in a giyen 
number of moths, but principally in the space between 
the oblique lines on the front wings being either of the 
same shade as the rest of the wing, or in its being much 
darker; but as we have found these variations in different 
individuals of the same brood, bred either from Ap- 
ple, Oak, Hickory, or Kose, they evidently have nothing 
to do with the food-plant. The scales on the wings are 
very loosely attached, and rub off so readily that good 
sjDCcimens of the moth are seldom captured at large 

THE LAEVA SPIXS A WEB. 

From the very moment it is born until after the fourth 
or last moult, this caterpillar spins a web and lives more 
or less in company; but from the fact that this web is 
always attached close to the branches and trunks of the 
trees infested, it is often overlooked, and several writers 
have falsely declared that it does not spin. At each suc- 
cessive moult all the individuals of a batch collect and 
huddle together upon a common web for two or three 
days, and during these periods — though more active than 
most caterpillars in this so-called sickness — they are quite 
sluggish. During the last or fourth moult they very 
frequently come low down on the trunk of the tree, and, 
unwittingly court destruction by collecting in masses 
within man's reach. 

Remedies. — From their birth until after the third 
moult these worms will drop and suspend themselves in 
mid-air, if the branch upon which they are feeding be 
suddenly jarred. Therefore when they have been allowed 
to multiply in an orchard this habit will suggest various 
modes of destroying them. Again, as already stated, they 
can often be slaughtered e?i masse when collected on the 
trunks during the last moulting period. They will more 



160 



I^s^JUEIOUS IXSECTS 



generally be found on the leeward side of the tree if the 
wind has been blowing in the same direction for a few 
days. The cocoons may also be searched for, and many 
of the moths caught by attracting them towards the light. 
But the most eifective artificial mode of preventing this 
insect's injuries is to search for and destroy the egg- 
masses in the winter time when the trees are leafless. 

SOIMAEY. 

The Tent-caterpillar of the Forest differs from the 
common Orchard Tent-caterpillar principally in its egg- 
mass being docked off squarely instead of being rounded 
at each end; in its larva having a row of spots along the 
back instead of a continuous narrow line, and in its moth 
having the color between the oblique lines on the front 
wmgs as dark or else darker, instead of ligh ter than the 
rest of the wing. It feeds on a variety of both orchard 
and forest trees: makes a web which, from its being usu- 
ally fastened close to the tree, is often overlooked; is very 
destructive, and is most easily fought in the egg state. 

THE FALL WEB-WORM. 
{Hypliantria textor, Hanis.) 

The appearance of webs, or ^'^ tents," upon fruit and 
other trees in late summer and early autumn, has caused 
many to suppose that there was a second brood of the 
Tent-caterpillar. These late webs belong to a very dif- 
ferent insect, which lays her eggs in a cluster upon a 
leaf near the end of a twig, and the young caterj^illars, 
like those of the true tent-makers, begin to spin as soon 
as hatched; and as they feed and spin in company, the 
web formed by their united efforts soon becomes con- 



OF THE EAEM AI^D aARDEISr. 



161 



spiciious. The worms descend the branches, deyouring 
the pnlpy portions of the leayes upon them, and form a 
web as they go. ^hen they haye made their growth, the 
caterpillars descend to the ground, where, just beneath 
the surface, they enter the pupa state; the next summer 
they issue as pure white moths, to lay eggs for another 
brood. The worm, or caterpillar, is of a general pale- 
yellow color, with a broad dusky stripe along the back, 
and a yellow stripe along each side, and they haye nu- 
merous whitish hairs. While the Fall Web-worm often 
attacks the Apple and other fruit trees, it does not con- 
fine itself to the orchard, but its webs may be seen in 
autumn upon yarious kinds of trees, as well as on shrubs. 
The only remedy is to destroy the web whereyer it may 
be seen; and as the worms neyer leaye the nest, this is 
quite sure to be effectiye. 

THE APPLE-WOEM— CODLING MOTH. 
{Carpocapsa poraonella, Linn.) 

This is one of the most important of the insects of the 
orchard, in yiew of the great loss it annually causes. 
While all those who eat apples haye seen its work, a bur- 
rowing at the core of the fruit and an abundant deposit 
of excrement, yery few, eyen among fruit growers, have 
seen the perfect insect, which is a small moth. Like 
most of our worm insect foes, it was originally a denizen 
of the Old World, haying been introduced into this 
country only about the beginning of the present cen- 
tury. Twenty years ago it was unknown in Illinois; 
and it is only within the last eight or ten years that it 
has penetrated into Iowa. 

The Apple- worm moth makes its appearance in North 
Illinois from the last of May to the forepart of June, and 
a little earlier or later according to the season and the 



162 



INJUEIOUS IIS^SECTS 



latitude. Usually, at the time it appears, the young ap- 
ples are already set, and begiiming to be about as large as 
a hazel-nut. After coupling in the usual manner, the 
female moth then proceeds to deposit a single egg in the 
blossom end of the fruit, flying from fruit to fruit until 
her stock of eggs (amounting to probably two or three 
hundred) is exhausted. Not long after accomplishing 
this process she dies of old age and exhaustion. In a 
short time afterwards the egg, no matter where it is 
located, hatches out, and the young larva forthwith pro- 




Fig, 104. —APPLE-WORM — CODLING MOTH {Carpocapm pommella^ Linn.) 
Perfect lusect; Larva and its work; Pupa at the lower right-hand side. 

ceeds to burrow into the flesh of the apple, feeding as 
it goes, but making its head-quarters in the core. In 
three or four weeks time it is full grown, and shortly 
before this, the infested apple generally falls to the 
ground. The larva then crawls out of the fruit through 
a large hole in the cheek, w^hich it has bored several 
days beforehand for that express purpose, and usually 
makes for the trunk of the tree, up which it climbs, and 
spins around itself a silken cocoon of a dn-ty- white color, 
in any convenient crevice it can find, the crotch of the 
tree being a favorite spot. Here it transforms into the 



OF THE FARM AKD GARDEIS". 



163 



pupa state; and, towards the latter end of July or the 
forepart of August, bursts forth in the moth state. The 
different stages in the life of this insect are given in 
figure 104. The channel made by the young larva in 
reaching the core, and the cavity it makes in feeding- 
there, are shown. At the upper right hand the full 
grown larva is given, and at the lower right-hand the 
pupa. At the left-hand side the perfect insect is shown, 
with its wings open and closed. The motb is distin- 
guished from all other moths by a patch of coppery scales 
at the tip of its front wings. 

The infested fruit does not always drop when the 
borer leaves it; seeks a place in which to undergo its 
changes, and in from ten to fiiteen days a second brood 
of moths issues, and the fruit is re- stocked with larvae. 
The second brood do not issue as moths until the next 
.spring, many of the larvae of the late brood do not leave 
the apples until they are harvested, and undergo their 
changes in the cellar. 

Eemedies. — The utility of pasturing swine in the or- 
chard is generally admitted and did all the infested ap- 
ples fall would be more than the partial remedy that it 
it now is. Acting upon the fact that many of the worms 
after leaving the fallen fruit seek a place of concealment 
upon the trunk in which to pupate. Codling-moth traps 
have been invented, and some have been pateuted. One 
of the most effective traps is a strip of carpet or other 
coarse woollen fabric, about five inches wide and long- 
enough to go around the tree; this is fastened by a few 
tacks, which should not be driven home, as they need to 
be removed. These strips are examined every ten days 
and the insects killed. In large orchards the killing is 
expeditiously done by running the cloths between the 
rollers of a clothes wringer. Fruit cellars, and any 
empty boxes or barrels they may contain, should be ex- 
amined before May for concealed pupae. 



164 



INJURIOUS IXSECTS 



THE APPLE-:\L1GG0T. 

{Trypeta j)omoneUci, TTalsh.) 

Besides the well-known Apple-worm, or Codling-moth, 
there is in some localities, es2)ecially in the older States, 
the Apple-maggot. It differs from the Codling-moth in 
many respects ; the parent insect is not a moth, hut one 
of the two-^vinged flies. It is not, like the other, an 




Fig. 105. — APPLE-MAGGOT {Trypda po)nonflla, Walsh.) 
Perfect Insect ; Larva and its burrows ; Pupa. 

imported insect, btit a native which has long inhabited 
oni- wild apples and the haws, or fruit of our thorns, and 
is found in cnltiyated fruit, here and there, all over the 
country. Figure 105 shows an infested apple, and the 
insect in its different stages, the perfect fly, with its 
transparent wings, being shown above, while the maggot 
and pupa are given below. The excavations in the apjfle 
show that the larv^ enter at no particular place, and do 
not, as in the case of the Codling-moth, seek the core. 
The destruction of the infested fruit by feeding it to 
pigs, or making it into cider, are among the obvious 
means of prevention. 



OF THE FARiT AXD GAEDEK. 



165 



THE APPLE CURCULIO. 



(Anthonomus quadrigibbus, Say.) 




Fis:. 



Some have stated that the common Plum Curculio 
will also attack young Apples; however this may be, 
there is, in several of the Western States, and in Canada, 
a Curculio which has long infested the natiye Crab 
Apples, and has, in many cases, learned to prefer the 
cultivated to the wild fruit. A comparison of the en- 
graving of this insect (fig. 
106), with that of the 
Plum Curculio, given on a 
subsequent page, will at 
once show striking differ- 
ence. In the first place, 
there is the greater length 
of snout, which is carried 
extended in front; then 
the marked widening of 
the body behind, serves 
also to distinguish it. 
It has four conspicuous lumps on the wing-cases at 
the rear, from which it takes its specific name. It varies 
from one-twentieth, to one-twelfth of an inch in length. 
It is of a rusty-brown color, and the thorax, and often 
the forward third of the wing-covers ash-gray. 

The insect deposits its egg in an opening made in the 
skin of the fruit; the larva when hatched goes to the 
core, and there feeds, producing much excrement, for 
nearly a month, aud then assumes the pupa state within 
the fruit, which does not fall; in two or three weeks it 
appears as a perfect beetle. In Missouri and Southern 
Illinois, this insect often does much damage to the Apple 
crop, and probably it is abundant in other States, where 
its work has been attributed to other insects. In several 



106. — AJPPLE CUECULIO {Antho- 



nomus quadrigibbics, Say.) 
a, Real size ; b, Side view ; c, Back view, 
both enlarged. 



166 



INJURIOUS IKSECTS 



cases it has been known to attack Pears as well as 
Apples. 

Eemedies. — It is not probable that much can be done 
with jarring down this insect, as advised for the Plum 
Curculio, as it is not like that easily alarmed. So far 
as known, it can only be attacked while within the fruit. 
Shaking or jarring the tree may be useful in bringing 
down the infested apples, which should be at once fed to 
swine, or otherwise destroyed. 

THE CANKER-WORM. 

{Anisopte^-yx vernata, Peck.) 

The greatest injury done by Canker-worms is to Apple- 
trees, but it also attacks other fruit trees, and often 
injures shade trees, especially the 
Elm, which in some localities it 
completely defoliates. The male 
moth (fig. 107) has an expanse 
of wings of about an inch and a 
quarter; the wings are very thin 
Fig. 107.— MALE CANKER- aud sllky, the fore-wings ash- 
^""^""'^naut, ^^^^^^f'y' colored, with a small but distinct 
whitish spot on the front edge, 
near the tip ; the hind wings are pale ash-colored. 
The female (fig. 108) is entirely wingless and of 
a general ash-gray color. Being without wings, she 
can only reach the branches of the tree to deposit her 
eggs, by crawling up the trunk, which she does very early 
in the spring; in mild weather even in February. The 
eggs are deposited in clusters of one hundred or more on 
the bark of the branches and twigs, and may often be 
found on the inside of the loose scales of the bark. "When 
the leaves first begin to make their appearance, these eggs 
hatch into tiny Span-worms, scarcely visible to the 
naked eye, but they grow rapidly, and in three or four 




OF THE FAEM AITI) GABBEH. 



167 



weets haye attained their full size — about an inch in 
length, when they cease eating, and let themselyes down 
by a silken thread and enter the ground, where they soon 
become chrysalids, in which state they remain all through 
the summer and fall, and usually until the following spring, 
when they emerge as moths. The fact that the female 
moth is wingless makes it a comparatiyely easy matter 
to keep these Canker-worms in check, for the parent 
moth is obliged to crawl np the trunk of the tree to 
deposit her eggs, and if she can be prevented from doing 
this, of course she must lay her eggs below the obstruc- 
tion, where they can be easily destroyed. 

Dr. William Le Baron giyes the following remedies 
in his Second Illinois Eeport: 

^^Ist. Prevent the passage of the moths up the trees. 
The most approved plan heretofore used is 
to put a canvas or other cloth band, six 
inches or more in width, around the trunk 
and besmear it with tar, or a mixture of 
tar and molasses, applied every other day. 
The method suggested in this Report is 
to put a band of rope or closely twisted hay ker-worm— 
around the trunk, and over this a tin band 
about four inches wide, so placed that the rope shall be 
at the middle of the tin, making a closed cavity below, 
and a free edge of tin above. The time to use these 
appliances is mostly in the month of March, but also at 
other times when the weather is sufficiently open to 
permit the insects to run. 

" 2nd. If the moths are prevented from ascending the 
tree, they will deposit their eggs below the obstruction, 
and for the most part near to it. These eggs can be 
destroyed by a single application of kerosene oil. 

3rd. If the moths are not prevented from ascending 
the tree, they will deposit their eggs mostly upon the 
underside of the scales of bark, on the upper part of 




168 



IKJURIOTJS INSECTS 



the trnnk and larger branches. Many of these can be 
destroyed by scraping off and burning the scales. 

4th. If all precautions have been neglected and the 
eggs have been permitted to hatch, then, as soon as the 
worms are large enough to be easily seen, jar them from 
the trees and sweep them away with a pole, as they hang 
by their threads, and burn or otherwise destroy them. 

5th. If the worms have matured and gone into the 
ground for winter quarters, plow the ground late in the 
fall, so as to expose the pupge to frost, and to the action 
of natural enemies." 

The rope and tin bands mentioned in the first para- 
graph are deserving of particular attention, as they have 
been found to be an almost perfect barrier to the ascent of 
the moths. The method of putting on these bands is very 
simple. Take a piece of inch rope — old worn out rope is 
as good as new — tack one end to the trunk, two 
feet or less from the ground, with a shingle nail, driven 
in so that the head shall not project beyond the level of 
the rope. Bring the rope around the tree, and let it lap 
by the beginning an inch or two, cut it olf and fasten it 
in the same manner. Get the tinman to cut up some 
sheets of tin into strips four inches wide and fasten them 
together endwise, so that they shall be long enough to go 
around the trees over the rope band, having the rope at 
the middle. Let the ends of the tin lap a little, punch 
a hole through them and fasten them with a nail driven 
through the tin and rope into the tree. The result of 
this contrivance is, that the moths congregate below the 
obstruction, and sometimes pile up so as to go over on 
the tin. But when they reach the upper edge of the tin 
they go round and round until they become discouraged. 
A great deal of ingenuity has been displayed in the con- 
trivance of barriers of various kinds for preventing the 
female Canker-worm moth from ascending the trees. A 
pin-maker in Connecticut made a barrier of several rows 



OF THE FARM AKD GARDEIST. 



169 



of pins thrust through a rubber band; this was to be put 
around the trunk with the points of the pins outward. 
Other devices consist of troughs of sheet lead to surround 
the trunk, with a channel in which some kind of oil may 
be placed. In all such cases the simplest methods are 
the best. In New Haven and other New England places, 
which pride themselves upon their fine elms, trees ' 
which the Canker-worm particularly infests, the chief 
reliance is upon bands of thick paper placed around the 
trunks; this has placed upon it a barrier of pine tar or of 
old printer's-ink. Whatever barrier is used, it requires 
frequent attention. All liquids like oil, or viscid materi- 
als like tar, etc., may be covered by blowing dust, leaves, 
etc., to form a bridge across them; indeed the insects 
themselves, being arrested, often form a bridge with their 
dead bodies for the passage of their successors, and 
during the season such barriers should be daily looked to 
and renewed if necessary. 

It may be added that some orchardists, instead of using 
preventive measures, allow the insects to deposit their 
eggs on the trees, and then, when the caterpillars begin 
their work upon the foliage, destroy them by the use of 
Paris Green mixed with water, and thrown into the trees 
by means of a force-pump. 



Note. — While the foregoing insects attack the Apjole 
in preference to other fruit trees, they are occasionally, 
as mentioned under each, injurious to other trees. 
When we recollect that all our fruit trees belong to the 
same botanical family (the Bosacece), it will not be sur- 
prising to find an insect attacking several different trees 
indiscriminately. This large family is divided by botan- 
ists into several sub-families, one of which, the Almond 
Sub-family {Amygdalece), includes, what are popularly 
8 



170 



IKJURIOUS INSECTS 



known as Stone-frnits," — Peacli, Plum, Cherry, etc; 
another, the Pear Sub-family [Pomece), includes the Ap- 
ple, Pear, Quince, etc., and it is not often that the in- 
sects which prey upon one sub-family attack the other. 
Still there are a few general feeders, which are injurious 
to nearly all fruit trees, and make it difficult to classify 
insects according to the trees upon which they feed. 
The insects which folio vf, while they also injure the 
Apple, do not confine themselves to it; some attack all 
fruit trees alike, while the Peach-borer and Plum Ourcu- 
lio restrict themselves to the stone-fruits. 



THE RED-HUMPED CATEEPILLAR. 

{Notodonta concinna, Smith.) 

Young Apple and Pear trees, and sometimes other 
fruit trees, are frequently defoliated, or have large 
branches completely stripped of their leaves in late sum- 
mer or early autumn, by the Eed-humped Caterpillar. 




Fig. 109.— RED-HUMPED CATERPILLAR. Fig. 110.— PUPA OF RED- 

{Notodonta concinna, Smith.) humped caterpillar. 

The eggs are usually deposited in July, in clusters on 
the underside of a leaf near the end of a branch, and the 
young caterpillars eat downward, making clean work of 
the foliage as they descend. The full-grown caterpillars 
(fig. 109), are an inch and a quarter long; the general 
color yellowish-brown, paler on the sides, and striped 
length-wise with slender black lines; the head is coral- 
red, and on the top of the fourth ring is a bunch or hump 



OF THE FAKM AND GARDElsr. 171 

of the same brilliant color; there are several short black 
prickles along the top of the back. The caterpillar 
tapers towards the tail, and this end is always elevated 
when it is at rest. When full grown, all the caterpillars 
of the same brood descend to the ground at the same time, 
seek a hiding place under leaves, or just below the sur- 
face of the soil, where they form cocoons, and assume 
the chrysalis state (fig. 110), in which they remain un- 
til the following June, when the perfect insect issues 
as a small, neat-looking moth of a general light-brown 
color, the fore-wings are dark-brown along the inner 
margin, with a dark-brown spot near the middle. 
The wings expand from an inch, to an inch and three- 
eighths. If these caterpillars are noticed when first 
hatched, they will be found all near together, and may be 
readily destroyed. 

THE TWIG GIRDLER. 

{Oncideres cingulatus, Say.) 

This beetle is known to girdle a great number of dif- 
ferent trees, among which may be men- 
tioned Apple, Pear, Peach, and Plum, 
Hickory, Elm, Persimmon, and Ameri- 
can Linden. Both sexes of the beetle 
feed upon the bark of the Hickory, but 
only the females, so far as we are aware, 
girdle the twigs. After partly girdling 
a particular twig she lays a number of 
eggs in the upper portion that has been 
killed, each egg being usually inserted 
just beneath a bud. Figure 111 shows 
the insect and her work. The twig usu- 
ally, though not always, breaks off by girdler ( Oncideres 
the force of the wind during winter, and ^^''^duiatus, Sa>.) 
the larvae flourish upon the dead wood as it lies upon the 




172 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



groand, burrowing just beneath the bark, and when yery 
numerous leaving little else than the outer bark. The 
beetles do this work in the fall of the year. The young 
larva hatches and works a short distance into the twig 
before winter sets in, and continues working through 
spring and summer, transforming to pupa only towards 
autumn. Some writers have stated that two years are 
required for its development. While this may be true 
farther north it is not true of the latitude of St. Louis. 
The Insect has been found destructive in Pennsylvania, 
Indiana, and other Western States. Wherever its prun- 
ings are found, they should be gathered and burned. 

NEW YORK WEEVIL. 
(Ithycerus Noveboracensis, Forster.) 

This large snout-beetle kills the twigs by gnawing oii 
the tender bark, in the early part of the season before the 
buds have put out, and later in the year it destroys the 
tender shoots which start out from old wood, by entirely 
devouring them. It attacks, by preference, the tender 
growth of the Apple, though it will also make free with 
that of the Peach, Plum, and Pear, and probably of other 
fruit as well as of forest trees. 

This beetle belongs to the same family as does the 
Plum Curculio; it is distinguished from most of the 
other snout-beetles by the antenna or horns being- 
straight instead of elbowed or flail -shajDcd as they are in 
the common Plum Curculio, for instance. The specific 
name Xovelioracensis which means '^^of ]^ew York" was 
given to this beetle ninety-eight years ago, by Forster, 
doubtless because he received his specimens from New 
York. But like many other insects which have been 
honored with the name of some Eastern State, it is far 
more common in the Mississippi Valley than it is in the 



OF THE FARM AKD GARDEN. 



173 



State of Xew York, it being scarcely known as an injuri- 
ous insect in the East. The general color of the beetle 
is ash-gray, marked with black as in the cut (fig. 112, c), 
and with the scutel or small semi-circular space immedi- 
ately behind the thorax, between the wings, of a yellow- 
ish color. Its larval habits were for a long time iin- 
knoAvn, but it was recently ascertained that it breeds in 
the twigs and tender branches of the Bur Oak; we have 
good reason to believe that it also breeds in those of the 
Pignut Hickory. The female, in 
depositing, first makes a longitudi- 
nal excavation with her jaws (fig. 
112, a), eating upwards under the 
bark towards the end of the branch, 
and afterwards turns round to 
thrust her egg into the excavation. 
The larva (fig. 112, I?), hatching 
from the egg is of tlie usual pale- 
yellow color with a tawny head. 
We have watched the whole opera- 
tion of depositing, and, returning 
to the punctured twig a few days 
after the operation was performed^ 
have cut out the young larva; but 
we do not yet know how long a 
time the larva needs to come to its 
growth, nor whether it undergoes 
its transformations within the branch, or leaves it foi 
this purpose, to enter the ground; though the former 
hypothesis is the most likely. 

The same methods of catching this beetle may be em- 
ployed as with the Plum Ourculio, 




Fig.112. — NEW YORK WEE- 
VIL {Ithycerm Novehora- 
cr/(sis^ Forster.) 
a, Puncture ; b, Larva ; 
c, Beetle. 



174 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



CLIMBING CUT-WOEMS. 

Orcliardists in spring frequently find the hearts of their 
fruit buds — on young trees especially — entirely eaten out 
and destroyed^ and this circumstance is attributed to va- 
rious causes, winged insects, beetles, slugs for instance; 
to birds or eyen to late frosts, when probably the entire 
mischief is caused by Cut-worms. 

When climbing. Cut-worms will crawl up a tree eight 
or ten feet high, and seem to like equally well the leaves 
of the Pear, Apple, and Grape. 

They work during the night, always descending to the 
earth again at early dawn, and hiding just under its sur- 
face, which accounts for their never having been noticed 
in this their work of destruction in former j^ears. They 
seldom descend the tree as they ascend it, by craAvling, 
but drop from the bud or leaf on which they have been 
feeding; and it is quite interesting to watch one at early 
morn when it has become full fed and the tender skin 
seems ready to burst from repletion, and see it prepare 
by a certain twist of the body for the fall. 

On light soil they often destroy low-branched fruit 
trees of all kinds, except the Peach, feeding on the fruit 
buds first, the wood buds as a second choice, tender grape 
buds and shoots (to which they are also partial), not ex- 
cepted; the miller always prefers to lay her eggs near 
the hill or mound over the roots of the trees in the or- 
chard; and if, as is many times the case, the trees have a 
spring dressing of lime or ashes with the view of prevent- 
ing the May-beetle's operations, this will be selected with 
unerring instinct by the miller, thus giving her larvas a 
fine warm bed to cover the*n selves up in during the day 
from the observations of their enemies. They will leave 
potatoes, peas, and all other green things for the Apple 
and Pear. The long, naked young trees of the orchard 



OF THE FAEM AND GARDEN. 



175 



are almost exempt from their voracious attacks, but I have 
found them about midnight, of a damp and dark night 
well up in the limbs of these. The habit of the Dwarf 
Apple and Pear tree, however, just suits their natures, 
and much of the complaint of those people who cannot 
make these trees thrive on a sandy soil, has its founda- 
tion here, though apparently utterly unknown to the 
orchardist. There is no known remedy; salt has no 
properties repulsive to them, they burrow in it equally as 
quick as in lime or ashes. Tobacco, soap and other di- 
luted washes do not even provoke them; but a tin tube 
six inches in length, opened on the side and closed around 
the base of the tree, fitting close and entering at the 
lower end an inch into the ground, is what the lawyers 
would term an effectual estoppel to further proceedings. 

**If the dwarf tree branches so low from the ground 
as not to leave six inches clear of trunk between the 
limbs and ground, the limbs must be sacrificed to save 
the tree — as in two nights four or five of tliese pests will 
fully and effectually strip a four or five-year- old dwarf 
tree of every fruit and wood bud, and often when the tree 
is green, utterly denude it of its foliage. I look upon 
this Out-worm as an enemy to the orchard more fatal 
than the Canker-worm, when left to themselves, but for- 
tunately for mankind more surely headed off." J. W. 
Cochran, Calumet, Illinois. 

The Climbing Cut-worm seems to prefer the Apple, 
Pear, and Grape-vine, though it also attacks the Black- 
berry, Easpberry, Currant, and even Eose-bushes and 
ornamental trees. 

The subject is all important to the orchardist, and to 
those especially who have young and newly-planted trees 
on a light soil; for there are many who have had their 
trees injured by the buds being devoured in this manner, 
who never dreamed of preventing such an occurrence, 
for the reason that the mischief was attributed to birds. 



176 



IXJUEIOUS IJ^SECTS 



Thus our quail, imri^le-fiiLcli, and many otlier birds, liaye 
too often unjustly received the execrations of the fruit 
culturist, which that evil genius, the Cut-worm, alone 
deserved. To understand an enemy's foible is to have 
conquered, and when we learn the source of an evil 
it need exist no lono-er. The rano^e of these Climbino: 
Cut-worms seems to be wide, for we have undoubted 
evidence of their attacking the Grape-vine in California, 
and I have found two species in Missouri, which have 
the same habit. Climbing Cut- worms frequently have 
the same habit of severing plants, as those which have 
' never been known to climb, and I very much incline to 
believe that this habit is only acquired in the spring time, 
and most Cut-worms will mount trees if they are forced 
to do so, by the absence of herbaceous plants. 

The Climbing Cu.t-^yoIm {Agrot is scandens, Eiley), has 
a similar general appearance to those which do not climb 
(see fig. 50, page 80). Its general color is a very light 
yellowish-gray, variegated with dirty bluish-green, and 
when filled with food it wears a much greener a^^pearance 
than otherwise. In depth of shading it is variable, how- 
ever, and the young worm is of a more uniform dirty 
whitish-yellow, with the lines along the body less distinct, 
but the shiny spots more so than in the full grown ones. 
Mr. Cochran informs us that on the Apple tree, when 
this worm has fed out its bud, the work is effectually 
done, that no adventitious or accessory bud ever starts 
again from the same i^lace; the worm, as it were, boring 
into the very heart of the wood and effectually destroy- 
ing the ability of the tree to re-act, at such a point, in the 
formation of a new bud, and that consequently a tree that 
is once stripped generally dies, and that this occurs more 
frequently on small or dwarf trees, where the buds are 
few, and three or four worms in a single night can eat 
out every one. 



OF THE FARM AND GARDEiq". 177 

THE BAG-WORM, BASKET- WOEM, or DROP-WORM. 

(Thyridopteryx ephemerceformis, Haw). 

The Bag-worm may be regarded as a Southern rather 
than a Xorthern insect^ though it is found as far North 
as the northern part of New Jersey. 

It is known to occur on Long Island, N. Y., in New 
Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylyania, Ohio, 
Maryland, District of Columbia, the Carolinas, Georgia, 
Alabama, Kentucky, South Illinois, and South Missouri. 
Like the Canker-worm, the Tussock-moth, and all other 
insects in which the perfect female is wingless, the Bag- 
worm is extremely local in character, often abounding in 
a particular neighborhood, and being totally unknown a 
few miles away. 

The clothing made by different insects, for protection 
either against the inclemency of the weather or against 
their enemies, is even more varied in cut and make-up, 
than are the divers costumes of the different peoples, 
civilized and barbarous, which inhabit our globe. Some 
insects live in the interior of leaves, using the upper and 
under cuticles as protection; some make their coats out 
of leaves themselves; some make cases of a sort of gummy 
cement, while others use cases of sj)un silk; but by far the 
greater number of those which protect themselves at all, 
employ silken cases which they cover and disguise with 
some other material. Thus lichens, grass, rushes, stones, 
shells, sand, wool, cotton, hair, wax, and the bark, twigs 
and leaves of trees, are all used for this purpose, while a 
few worms actually use their own excrement arranged on 
the outside of their cases with mathematical precision; 
unlike us mortals, however, these insects do not change 
the fashion of their dress with every change of season, 
but follow strictly the pattern used by their ancestors, 
who cut, spun, and wove, ages before our primordial 



178 



I]S"JUKIOUS IKSECTS. 



mother sewed fig-leaves together. The follicle of our 
Bag-worm is covered by the leaves and stems of those trees 
or shrubs on which it subsists; and when evergreen leaves 
are used tliey are often very regularly and prettily 
arranged after the fashioD of thatching. 

Throughout the winter, the weather-beaten bags of 
this insect may be seen hanging from almost every kind 
of tree; upon plucking them at that season many of them 
will be found empty, but the greater proportion of them 
will, on being cut open, be found partly full of soft yellow 
eggs. Those which do not contain eggs, are the male 
bags, and his empty chrysalis skin is generally found pro- 
truding from the lower end. From the middle to the end 
of May. in the latitude of St. Louis, these eggs hatch 
into little active brown worms, which, from the first mo- 
ment of their lives, commence to form for themselves cov- 
erings. They crawl on to a tender leaf, and attached by 
the anterior legs, with their tails hoisted in the air, they 
each spin around themselves a ring of silk, to which they 
soon fasten bits of leaf. They continue adding to the 
lower edge of the ring, pushing it up as it increases in 
depth, until it reaches the tail, and forms a sort of cone, 
as represented in fig. 113, g. As the worms grow, they 
continue to increase their bags from the bottom, until the 
latter become so large and heavy that the worms allow 
them to hang, instead of holding them upright, as they 
did when they were young. By the end of July, the 
worms acquire their full growth, when they present the 
appearance of figure 113, /. At this stage, on being 
pulled out of its bag, or follicle, the worm appears as at 
fig. 113, a, that portion of the body which is always 
covered by the bag, being soft, and of a dull, smoky- 
brown, inclining to reddish at the sides; while the three 
anterior, or thoracic segments, which are exposed when 
the insect is feeding or marching, are horny, and mottled 
with black and white. The prolegs on the hidden part 



OF THE FAKM AJ^"D GAEDEK. 



179 



of the body are but poorly developed, and consist of but 
slight wart-like projections; they are furnished, however, 
with numerous small hooks, which answer an admirable 
purpose, in enabling the bearer to cling to his home-spun 
coat, which shelters him from the weather, and defends 
him from his enemies, and which is even more essential 
to his existence than are the clothes we wear to ours. 
The worms do not arrive at their full-grown condition 
without passing through critical periods. At four dif- 
ferent times during their growth they close up the mouth 




Fiff. 113. — BAG, BASKET, OR DROP-WORM. 

(Thyridopteryx ephemerceformis, Haw.) 

a. Larva ; h. Chrysalis ; c, Female ; d, Male ; e, Female bag opened ; /, The Worm 
and its Bag ; g, The Young. 

of their bags, and retire for two days to cast their skins 
or moult, as is the nature of their kind, and they push 
their old skins through a passage which is always left 
open at the extremity of the bag, and which also allows 
them to throw out their excrement. 

During their growth they are very slow travellers, and 
seldom leave the tree on which they were born; but 
when full grown, they become quite restless; and it is at 



180 



IXJUKIOUS IXSECTS 



this time that they wander in the day time. di'ojDping on 
persons by their silken threads, and crossing the side- 
walks of our cities in all directions. It is from this habit 
of dropping npon persons^ that they have been called 
Drop-worms.'*" A wise instinct nrges them to thus 
wander from place to place^, for^ did they remain on the 
tree, they would soon multiply beyond the j^ower of that 
tree to sustain them, and would in consequence become 
extinct. When they haye lost their migratory desires, 
they fasten their bag very securely by a strong band of 
silk to the twigs of the tree on which they hapj^en to be. 
Here again a strange instinct leads them to thus fasten 
their cocoons to the twigs only of the tree they inhabit, so 
that these cocoons will remain through the winter; and not 
to the leaf stalk, where they would be blown down with the 
leaf. After thus fastening their bags, they line them with 
a good thickness of soft white silk, and after turning 
around in the bag so as to have the head towards the 
lower orifice, they rest awhile from their labors, and at 
last cast their skins, and become chrysalids. Hitherto 
the worms had all been alike in appearance, but now 
the sexes are distinguishable, the male chrysalis (fig. 113, 
h), being but half the size of that of the female, and ex- 
hibiting the encased wings, legs, and antenna^, as in all 
ordinary chrysalids, while hers show no signs of any such 
members (see inside of bag at e). Three weeks after- 
wards, a still greater change takes place, the sexes differ- 
entiating still more. The male chrysalis works himself 
down to the end of his bag, and, hanging half-way out. 
the skin bursts, and the moth (fig. 113, d). with a black 
body and glassy wings, escapes, and, when his wings are 
dry, soars through the air to seek his mate, who is not 
blessed with wings, but is an abortive affair, with the 
head and general appearance of the larva, but still 
more degraded, since she has not even the legs which 
it possessed; she is, in fact, a naked, yellowish bag 



OF THE FARM AND GARDEN}-. 



181 



of eggs, with a ring of soft, liglit-brown, silky liair 
near the tail. (See fig. 113, c). 

The female never withdraws herself entirely from the 
pupa shell, but holds on to it by her terminal segments, 
being evidently assisted by the ring of woolly hair already 
referred to. Thus, with the pupa shell extended to its 
utmost capacity, and the additional length of her whole 
body, she is enabled to reach to the lower orifice of the 
follicle, where she pertinently awaits the male, and after 
meeting him, works herself back into the pupa shell. 
Here she deposits her eggs in the upper part, interming- 
ling them, and crowding the lower part of the puparium 
with the peculiar fawn-colored down already referred to. 
After having thus cosily secured her eggs against the 
winter's blasts, she works herself out and drops ex- 
hausted to the ground. 

This insect is a general feeder, for it occurs alike on 
evero^reen and deciduous trees. We have found it on 
the Apple, Plum, Cherry, Quince, Pear, Ked and White 
Elms, the common Black and Honey Locusts, Lombardy 
Poplar, Catalpa, Norway Sj^ruce, Arbor-vitse, Osage 
Orange, Soft and Silver Maples, Sycamore, Linden, 
and above all, on the Eed Cedar, while Mr. Glover has 
also found it on the Cotton plant in Georgia. We have 
even seen the bags attached to Easpberry canes. 

This insect is also exceedingly hardy and vigorous, and 
the young worms will at first make their bags of almost 
any substance upon which they happen to rest, when 
newly hatched. They will construct them of leather, 
paper, straw, cork, wood, or of any other material which 
is sufiiciently soft to allow of their gnawing it, and it is 
quite amusing to watch their operations. 

Eemedies. — How often does the simple knowledge of 
an insect's habits and transformations, give the clue to its 
easy destruction! From the foregoing account of the 
Bag-worm, it becomes obvious, that by plucking and 



182 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



burning the cases in winter, the trees can be easily rid of 
them. If this is done whenever the first few bags are 
observed, the task of plucking is light; but where it is 
not so done, the worms will continue to increase, and 
partly defoliating the tree each year, slowly, but surely, 
sap its life. 

THE SLUG OF THE PEAR AND CHERRY TREE. 
{Selandria cerasi. Peck.) 

In New England, in June and July, there appears upon 
the leaves of the Pear and Cherry dark-green slimy 
creatures, so unlike caterpillars in general that they have 
received the popular name of slug. When grown, they 
are nearly half an inch (V^o) long; being largest before 
and tapering behind, they have something of a tadpole 
appearance; the head is concealed under the fore-part of 
the body, and they usually have the tail somewhat turned 
up when at rest. Their color is a dark-blackish or bot- 
tle-green, and they exude from their skins a slimy matter 
which forms a shining trail wherever they move. They 
eat away the pulpy substance of the leaf, completely 
skeletonizing it; and as there are sometimes as many as 
twenty or more on a single leaf, they may do much injury 
by defoliating the tree, and causing leaves to push out 
from the buds prepared for next season. When present 
in large numbers, they give off an unpleasant odor, 
which may be noticed at some distance from the trees. 
It takes these slugs about twenty-six days to complete 
their growth, and after their final moult, they no longer 
have their slug-like appearance, but, as clean yellow 
caterpillars, leave the trees, and entering the ground for 
a few inches, form an oval earthen cocoon, in which they 
become chrysalids, and at the end of sixteen days come 
out in their perfect state, that of a fly of the order Hy- 



OF THE FAEM AND GAEDEI^". 



183 



menoptera. The female fly is slightly over one-fifth of 
an inch long, the male somewhat smaller, of a glossy- 
black, the first two pairs of legs being yellowish, with 
blackish thighs. The transparent wings are iridescent, 
the front pair haying a smoky tinge across the middle. 
They lay their eggs in little incisions made in the skin 
of the leaf. This insect is often very injurious in the 
older States, and is extending westward, and is frequent 
in Canada. 

RE3IEDIES. — Dry air-slaked lime, if sprinkled from a 
perforated tin vessel, or from a bag of some open fabric, 
attached to a pole, has been found very effective. It has 
been stated that the action of the lime is merely me- 
chanical, and that fine dust, such as road-dust, will 
answer as well. The action of the dust may make the 
slug uncomfortable for awhile, but on shedding its skin 
it soon gets rid of it, while the lime soon kills the slug. 
Tobacco-water, Lime-water, and White Hellebore, used 
as directed under Currant- worm," have been found of 
service, 

THE PEACH-BORER. 
{^geria exitiosa, Say.) 

This borer is quite common, and the greatest insect 
enemy with which the Peach grower has to contend. 

From the Round-headed Apple-Tree Borer, to which 
it bears some resemblance, both in its mode of work, and 
general appearance, it is at once distinguished by having 
six scaly, and ten fleshy legs. It works also more gen- 
erally under the surface of the ground, and goes through 
its transformations within a year, though worms of two 
or three sizes may be found at almost any season. When 
full grown, the worm spins for itself a follicle of silk, 
mixed with gum and excrement, from which in due time 



184 



Il^-JUEIOUS INSECTS 



issues a moth. The figures show, 114, the male, and 
115, the female. As will be seen from these engravings, 
the two sexes differ yery materially from each other, the 
general color in both being glossy steel-blue. 

This Borer also attacks the Plum Tree, though sin- 




Fig. 114. — PEACH-BORER — ^MAIiE. Fig. 115.— PEACH-BORER — FEMALE. 

gularly enough, it causes no exudation of gum in this, as 
it does in the Peach Tree. 

Eemedies. — As the borer often attacks the young trees 
in the nursery, all trees before planting should be care- 
fully examined near the root, and if any are present, 
they may be readily cut out. In large peach orchards, 

worming " is a part of the labor of cultivation. After 
the harvest, hands are employed to examine every tree 
for borers, and the more careful cultivators examine the 
trees in the spring also. The eggs are deposited from 
the middle of June, occasionally until October, at the 
surface of the ground. The grubs so soon as hatched, 
bore their way through the bark, and enter the sa2> 
wood. An exudation of gum at the base of the tree, is a 
sure sign of the presence of the borer. The earth is 
scraped away from the base of the tree, and a strong 
knife is used to cut away the dead and diseased bark and 
wood, and expose the hole; then a flexible probe, one of 
whale-bone is preferred, is thrust in to crash the borer. 
Sometimes as many as five or six are found in one tree, 
but all must be killed. After the operation the surface 
soil is drawn up to the tree to cover the wound. Boiling- 
water applied to the base of the treeiias been found use- 



OF THE FAEM AND GARDEl^. 



185 



fill. The borer may be prevented from laying lier eggs, 
by surrounding the base of the tree with paper, which 
should extend for two inches below, and at least six 
inches above the surface of the ground, securing the 
upper portion by means of string or wire. Cloth and 
other preventives may be used in the same manner. 

THE PLUM CURCULIO. 
{Conotrachelus nenuphar, Herbst.) 

The Plum Curculio, commonly known all over the 
country as The Ourculio, is a small, roughened, warty, 
brownish beetle, belonging to a very extensive family 
known as Snout-beetles {Curculionidce). It measures 
about one-fifth of an inch 
in length, exclusive of 
the snout, and may be 
distinguished from all 
other North American 
Snout-beetles by having 
an elongate, knife -edged 
hump, resembling a piece 
of black sealing-wax, on 
the middle of each wing- 
case, behind which humps Fig. ii6-plum cuRcrLio. 

there is a broad clay-yel- {Gonoimchelm nenuphar, Herbst.) 
, , T . , , «, Larva ; h, Pupa ; c. Beetle ; a. Beetle at 

low band, with more or work, 
less white in its middle. The engraving, figure 116, c, 
shows the magnified beetle, and at figure 117 it is 
represented at work, still more enlarged. 

This is the perfect or imago form of the Curculio; and 
it is in this hard, shelly, beetle state, that the female 
passes the winter, sheltering under the shingles of houses, 
under the old bark of both forest and fruit trees, under 
logs and in rubbish of all kinds. As spring approaches, 




186 



li^TJUKIOUS INSECTS 



it awakens from its lethargy^ and^ if it has slept in the 
forest, instinctively searches for the nearest orchard. 
In Central Illinois and in Central Missouri the beetles 
may be found in the trees during the last half of April, 
but in the extreme southern part of Illinois they appear 
about two weeks earlier, while in the extreme northern 
part of the same State they are fully two weeks later. 
Thus, in the single State of Illinois, there is a difference 
of about one month in the time of the Curculio's first 
appearance on fruit trees; and the time will yary with 
the forwardness or lateness of the season. 

As we shall see from the sequel, it is very important 
that we know just when first to expect " Mrs. Turk," and 
I therefore lay it down as a rule, applicable to any lati- 
tude, that she first commences to puncture peaches when 
they are of the size of small marbles or of hazel-nuts, 
though she may be found on the trees as soon as they are 
in blossom. To prevent confusion I will use the word 
" peach," not that her work is confined to this fruit, for, 
as we shall presently see, she is not so particular in her 
tastes, but because the peach is more extensively grown 
than are any of the other large kinds of stone-fruit. 

Alighting, then, on a small peach, she takes a strong 
hold of it (fig. 116 d), and with the minute jaws at the 
end of her snout, makes a small cut just through the 
skin of the fruit. She then runs the snont slantingly 
under the skin, to the depth of one-sixteenth of an inch, 
and moves it back and forth until the cavity is large 
enough to receive the egg it is to retain. Then she turns 
around and drops an egg into the mouth of the cavity, 
and after this is accomplished, she resumes her first posi- 
tion, and by means of her snout pushes the egg to the 
end of the passage, and afterwards deliberately cuts the 
crescent in front of the hole, so as to undermine the egg 
and leave it in a sort of flap. The whole operation 
requires about five minutes, and her object in cutting the 



1 

OF THE FAEM AKD GAEDEI^-. 3 87 j 

crescent is evidently to deaden the flap, so as to prevent [ 
the growing fruit from crushing the egg. 

'Now that she has completed this task, and has gone 
off to perform a similar operation on some other fruit, 
let us from day to day watch the egg which Ave have just ■ 
seen deposited, and learn in what manner it develops 
into a Curculio like the parent which produced it — 
remembering that the life and habits of this one indi- 
vidual are illustrative of those of every other Plum ■ 
Cucurlio. 

'We shall find that the egg is oval and of a pearly-white 
color. Should the weather be warm and genial, this egg 
will hatch in from four 
to five days, but if cold 
and unpleasant the 
hatching will not take 
place for a week or even 
longer. Eventually, 
however, there hatches 
from the egg a soft, 
tiny, footless grub with 
a horny head, and this 
grub immediately com- 
mences to feed upon the 
green flesh of the fruit, 
boring a tortuous path 
as it proceeds. It riots 
in the fruit — working 

by preference around The insect and its work, greatly enlarged. 

the stone — for from three to five weeks, the period 
varying, according to various controlling influences. 

The fruit containing this grub does not, in the major- 
ity of instances, mature, but falls prematurely to the 
ground, generally before the grub is quite full grown. 
I have known fruit to lie on the ground for upwards of 
two weeks before the grub left, and have found as many 




Fio;. 117.— THE PLUM CUECULIO. 



188 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



as five grubs in a single peach which had Deen on the 
ground for seyeral days. When the grub has once 
become full grown, howeyer, it forsakes the fruit which 
it has ruined, and burrows from four to six inches in the 
ground. At this time it is of a glassy yellowish- white 
color, though it usually partakes of the color of the fruit- 
Hesh on which it was feeding. It is about two-fifths of 
an inch long, with the head light brown; there is a 
lighter line running along each side of its body, with a 
row of minute black bristles below, and a less distinct 
one above it, while the stomach is rust-red, or blackish. 
The full grown larva presents the appearance of fig- 
ure 116, «. 

In the ground, by turning round and round, it com- 
presses the earth on all sides until it has formed a 
smooth oval cavity. Within this cavity, in the course of 
a few days, it assumes the pupa form, figure 116, J. 

After remaining in the ground in this state for just 
about three weeks, it becomes a beetle, which, though 
soft and uniformly reddish at first, soon assumes its 
natural colors; and, when its several parts are sufiiciently 
hardened, works through the soil to the light of day. 

The Ourculio when alarmed, like very many other 
insects, and especially such as belong to the same great 
Order of Beetles [Coleoptera), folds up its legs close to the 
body, turns under its snout into a groove which receives 
it, and drops to the ground. In doing this it feigns 
death, so as to escape from threatened danger, and does 
in reality very greatly resemble a dried fruit bud. It 
attacks, either for purposes of propagation or for food, 
the Nectarine, Plum, Apricot, Peach, Cherry, Apple, 
Pear and Quince, preferring them in the order of their 
naming. 

It is always most numerous in the early part of the 
season on the outside of the orchards that are surrounded 



OF THE FARM AKD GARDEK. 



189 



with timber. It is also more numerous in timbered 
regions than on the prairie. 

It can fly and does fly, especially dnring the heat of 
the day; so cotton bandages around the trunk, and all 
like contrivances, are worse than nseless. 

It prefers smootli-skinned to rough-skinned stone- 
fruit. 

The Miner Plnm, otherwise known as the Hinckley 
Plum, and other yarieties of that wild species known as 
the Chickasaw Plum [Prunus Chicasa), are less liable to 
its attacks than other kinds. 

Both the male and female puncture the fruit for food, 
by gouging hemisplierical holes; but the female alone 
makes the crescent-mark above described. 

Scarcely any eggs are deposited after the stone of the 
fruit has become hard. 

The cherry when infested remains on the tree, and the 
preventive measures that may be applied to other fruits 
will consequently not hold good with this. 

The larva cannot well undergo its transformations in 
earth which is dry or baked, and severe drouths are con- 
sequently prejudicial to its increase. 

It often matures in ajiples and pears, especially in 
early varieties, but in the great majority of instances the 
egg either fails to hatch or the 3^oung larva perishes in a 
few days after hatching. 

Artificial Eemedies. — The remedies are few. They 
consist of prevention, by destroying the fallen fruit 
which contains the grub, and by jarring down and catch- 
ing and killing the beetles. There are a variety of means 
which can be employed for destroying the grubs which fall 
with the fruit before they enter the ground. It can be 
done either by hand or by stock. Hogs and poultry are 
of undoubted use for this purpose. Of course, the first 
year they are used they do not in the least decrease the 



190 



INJUEIOTJS INSECTS 



number of beetles, but wherever they can be used, a 
most beneficial effect will be noticed the second year, 
and every year afterwards. All attempts to repel the 
Curculio by hanging corn-cobs soaked in kerosene in 
the tree, or by throwing offensive mixtures upon the 
foliage have proved useless. The most effective method 
tlius far discovered, is to jar down the insects and catch 
them on sheets. The tree should have a sudden jarring, 
not a mere shaking. For this purpose it is a good plan 
to saw off a small limb, leaving a stump a foot or less 
long, upon which to strike with a heavy mallet, this 
avoids bruising the bark of the tree. To catch the 
insects, two pieces of sheeting, each two yards long and 
a yard wide, may be stiffened by means of small rods or 
sticks, one at each long side and one in the middle; 
make the end of these sticks sharp, and cut a notch at a 
short distance from the end; the points of the sticks may 
be pushed into the cloth, and the notches will prevent 
that from slipping. A person can readily carry these 
from tree to tree, and placing them on the ground, one 
each side of the trunk, the tree is then to be jarred by a 
stroke of the mallet. The fallen insects may be crushed 
between the fingers, or be placed in a vessel of water, 
upon which there floats a small quantity of kerosene. 

THE PERIODICAL OR SEVENTEEN-YEAR CICADA. 
{Cicada septendecim, Limi.) 

This insect is popularly known as the Seventeen-year 
Locust," and by many confounded with the true Locust, 
and said to devour every green thing, whereas it is en- 
tirely unlike the '^'^ Rocky Mountain Locust," or Color- 
ado Grasshopper; " it belongs to another family, and has 
no jaws with which to devour anything. It simply has 
a beak to suck the juices of plants. It probably does its 



OP THE FAEM AKD GAKDEK. 



191 



greatest injury in its under-ground life, sucking the juices 
of the roots of trees and plants, where it lives seventeen 
years. It however does much injury to fruit and other 
trees; the excavations made by the female form bad, 
ragged wounds, and sometimes so weaken the small 
branches that they are broken oH. The following is 
mainly condensed from the description by Harris in his 
work on "Insects Injurious to Vegetation.''* 

The Seventeen-year Cicada in the winged state (fig. 
118, c), is of a black color, with transparent wings and 




Fig. 118— PERIODIC AX CICADA. {Cicada septendecim, Linn.) 

a, Pupa ; 6, Pupa Shell ; c, Perfect Insect ; d, Twig with Punctures, natural size ; 
e, Eggs, enlarged. 

wing-covers, the thick anterior edge and larger veins of 
which are orange-red, and near the tips of the latter 
there is a dusky zigzag line in the form of the letter W, 
supposed by the superstitious to indicate war ; the 
eyes when living are also red; the rings of the body 
are edged with dull-orange; and the legs are of the same 



192 



rNTJURIOTJS IKSECTS 



color. The wings expand from two and one-half to three 
and one-quarter inches. 

In its many years of underground life this insect does 
more or less damage by feeding upon the roots of plants, 
but its manifest injury is only when, in the perfect state, 
the female deposits her eggs in the twigs of fruit trees ^ 
and at the times of periodical abundance the injury it 
causes is often serious, and it is properly classed among 
those injurious to fruit trees. 

In those parts of the country which are subject to the 
visitation of this Cicada, it may be seen in forests of Oak 
through the month of June. And such immense num- 
bers are sometimes congregated as to bend and even 
break doTVTi th^ limbs of the trees by their weight, and 
the woods resound with the din of their discordant drums 
from morning to evening. After pairings the females 
proceed to prepare a nest for the reception of their eggs. 
They select, for this purpose, branches of a moderate 
size, which they clasp on both sides with their legs, and 
then, bending down the piercer at an angle of about 
forty-five degrees, they repeatedly thrust it obliquely into 
tlie bark and wood in the direction of the fibres, at the 
same time patting in motion the lateral saws, and in 
this way detach little splinters of the wood at one end, 
so as to form a kind of fibrous lid or cover to the perfo- 
ration. The hole is bored obliquely to the pith, and is 
gi-adually enlarged by a repetition of the same operation, 
until a longitudinal fissure is formed of sufficient extent 
to receive from ten to twenty eggs. The side-pieces of the 
piercer serve as a groove to convey the eggs into the nest, 
where they are deposited in pairs, side by side, but sepa- 
rated from each other by a portion of woody fibre, and 
they are implanted in the limb somewhat obliquely, so 
that one end points upwards. When two eggs have been 
thus placed, the insect withdraws the piercer for a mo- 
ment, and then inserts it again and drops two more eggs 



OF THE FARM AND GARDEi^. 



193 



in a line with tlie first, and repeats tlie operation until she 
has filled the fissure from one end to the other, upon 
which she remoyes to a little distance, and begins to make 
another nest to contain two more rows of eggs. She is 
about fifteen minutes in preparing a single nest and fill- 
ing it with eggs; but it is not unusual for her to make 
fifteen or twenty fissures in the same limb; and one ob- 
server counted fifty nests extending along in a line, each 
containing fifteen or twenty eggs in two rows, and all of 




Fig. 119. — A punctlked twig. 



them apparently the work of one insect. After one limb 
is thus stocked, the Cicada goes to another, and passes 
from limb to limb and from tree to tree, until her store, 
which consists of four hundred or five hundred eggs, is ex- 
hausted. At length she becomes so weak by her inces- 
sant labors to provide for a succession of her kind, as to 
falter and fall in attempting to fly, and soon dies. Fig- 
ure 118, shows a twig in which the eggs have been laid, 
and another is given in figure 119. 

Although the Cicadas abound most upon the Oak, they 
resort occasionally to other forest trees, and even to 
shrubs, when impelled by tlie necessity for depositing 




Fig. 120. — TWIG WITH HEALED PUNCTURES. 



their eggs, and they very often commit them to fruit- 
trees, when the latter are in their vicinity. The punc- 
tured limbs languish and die soon after the eggs which 
are placed in them are hatched; they are broken by the 
winds or by their own weight, and either remain hanging 
by the bark alone, or fall with their withered foliage to 



194 



IKJUEIOUS II^^SECTS 



the ground. In this way orchards have suffered severely 
in consequence of the injurious punctures of these insects. 
Sometimes, however^ the twigs of the A^ople and other 
fruit trees recover from these attacks and new wood 
forms over the wounds as shown in figure 120. 

The eggs (fig. 118^ e) are one-twelfth of an inch long, and 
one-tenth of an inch through the middle, but taper at 
each end to an obtuse point, and are of a pearl-white 
color. The shell is so thin and delicate that the form of 
the included insect can be seen before the egg is hatched. 
The young insect when it bursts the shell is one-sixteenth 
of an inch long, and is of a yellowish-white color, except 
the eyes and the claws of the fore legs, which are reddish; 
and it is covered with little hairs. In form it is some- 



ster claws, and armed with strong spines beneath, On 
the shoulders are little prominences in the place of wings; 
and under the breast is a long beak for suction. Fig. 121 
shows the larva enlarged. These little creatures when 
liberated from the shell are very lively, and their move- 
ments are nearly as quick as those of ants. After a few 
movements their instincts prompt them to get to the 
ground, but in order to reach it they do not descend 
the body of the tree, neither do they cast off them- 
selves precipitately; but, running to the side of the limbs 
they deliberately loosen their hold, and fall to the earth. 

On reaching the ground the insects immediately bury 
themselves in the soil, burrowing by means of their 
broad and strong fore feet, which, like those of the mole, 
are admirably adapted for digging. In their descent into 




Fig. 121.— LAEVA, MUCH ENLAEGED. 



what grub-like, being 
longer in proportion 
than the parent insect, 
and is furnished with 
six legs, the first pair 
of which are very large, 
shaped almost l^ke lob- 



OF THE FARM AKD GARDEN. 



195 



the earth they seem to follow the roots of plants, and are 
subsequently found attached to those which are most 
tender and succulent, perforating them with their beaks, 
and thus imbibing the vegetable juices which constitute 
their sole nourishment. 

The grubs do not appear ordinarily to descend very 
deeply into the ground, but remain where roots are most 
abundant. The only alteration to which the insects are 
subject, during the long period of their subterranean con- 
finement, is an increase in size, and the more complete 
deyelopment of the four small scale-like prominences on 
their backs, which represent and actually contain their 
future wings. Fig. 118, a, represents the full-grown 
larva. 

When at length the time arrives for them to issue from 
the ground they come out in great numbers in the night, 
crawl up the trunks of trees, or upon any other object 
in their vicinity to which they can fasten themselves se- 
curely by their claws. After having rested awhile, they 
prepare to cast off their skins, which, in the mean time, 
have become dry and of an amber color. By repeated 
exertions, a longitudinal rent is made in the skin of the 
back, and through this the included Cicada pushes its 
head and body, and withdraws its wings and limbs from 
their separate cases, and, craAvling to a little distance, it 
leaves its empty pupa-skin, apparently entire, still fas- 
tened to the tree as in fig. 118, t. At first the wing-covers 
are very small and opaque, but, being perfectly soft and 
flexible, they soon stretch out to their full dimensions, 
and in the course of a few hours the superfluous mois- 
ture of the body evaporates, and the insect becomes 
strong enough to fly. 

During several successive nights the pupae continue to 
issue from the earth; above fifteen hundred have been 
found to rise beneath a single apple tree, and in some 
places the whole surface of the soil, by their successive 



196 



IKJURIOtrS IKSECTS 



operations^, has appeaiGd as full of holes as a honey-comb. 
Within about a fortnight after their final transformation 
they begin to lay their eggs, and in the space of six 
weeks the whole generation becomes extinct. 

They are subject to many accidents, and haye many 
enemies, which contribute to diminish their numbers. 
Their eggs are eaten by birds; the young, when they first 
issue from the shell, are preyed upon by ants, which 
mount the trees to feed upon thorn, or destroy them 
when they are about to enter the ground. Blackbirds 
eat them when turned up by the plow in fields, and hogs 
are excessively fond of them, and, when suffered to go 
at large in the woods, root them up, and devour immense 
numbers just before the arrival of the period of their 
final transformation, when they are lodged immediately 
under the surface of the soil. It is stated that many 
perish in the egg state, by the rapid growth of the bark 
and wood, which closes the perforations and buries the 
eggs before they are hatched; and many, without doubt, 
are killed by their perilous descent from the trees. 

Such are the general habits of this remarkable insect 
which now, and probably has for ages, passed seventeen 
years of its life hiddeu in the soil, and at stated periods 
has appeared for a short season of life above ground. A 
most elaborate account of the habits of this Cicada will 
be found in the First Missouri Eeport (1868), in which 
the important discovery is announced that there are races 
which complete their career in thirteen years; while no 
differences have been found between the Thirteen-year 
and Seventeen-year Cicadas, other than in the time of 
their appearing, yet some entomologists give them as 
distinct, and the Thirteen-year Cicadas are, for conven- 
ience called C. tredecwi, Riley. This form is confined to 
more southerly localities than tlie other. While the Sev- 
enteen-year Cicada completes its round in that num- 
ber of years, it is not due all over the country on the 



OF THE FARM AI^D GARDEiq". 



197 



same year, but '^the Locust years" differ in different 
States. In the Eeport above referred to, tliere are given 
tlie dates of the appearance of twenty-two different 
broods. For example. Brood XX which appeared in 
1866, may be looked for in 1883 in Western New York, 
Western Pennsylvania and in Eastern Ohio. The brood 
XXI, is due in 1884 and at intervals of seventeen years 
thereafter, in parts of North Carolina and in Central 
Virginia. In 1885 a brood will appear in parts of New 
York and New England, in parts of Pennsylvania, Mary- 
land, the District of Columbia, in Delaware, Virginia, 




Fig. 132 — THE DIGGER WASP (Stizus gvandis). 



in parts of Oliio, Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky. This 
brood has a record extending from 1715, since which 
date it has appeared at regular intervals of seventeen 
years, up to its last occurrence in 1868. In some cases 
two broods may lap over upon one another in the same 
locality. 

Does the Cicada Stikg? There have been various 
accounts in the papers of injury from the sting of the 
Periodical Cicada. It has a beak by means of which it 
draws its nourishment from the branches of trees, and 
it may be that in careless handling of the insect, it has 



198 



IKJURTOUS INSECTS. 



tlirust its beak into tlie flesh. The most probable origin 
of these reports of stinging is due to the fact that a very 
large digger wasp (Stizus grandis) provides its nest with 
the Cicada, among other insects, as food for its young. 
The mother wasp stings her victims sufficiently to j)ara- 
lyze, but not to kill them, and takes them to her under- 
ground nest. This wasp is given of the real size in 
figure 122. It is possible that one may, in catching a 
Cicada, get a sting from this wasp, which had already 
captured it. 



Insects Injurious to Small Fruits. 



CURRANT AND GOOSEBERRY. 
THE GOOSEBERRY SPAN-WORM. 
(Eufit cilia ribearia, Pack.) 

This, which lias been called the American Currant- 
moth, and sometimes merely '^Currant-worm/' was first 
described by Dr. Fitch, as Abraxas ribearia^ referring it 
to the same genus with the European Gooseberry Moths. 
Later, Dr. Packard finding it to belong to a different 
genus, dedicated it to its distinguished discoverer, call- 
ing it Eiifitcliia. While it is found upon the Gooseberry, 
and Currant, it shows a decided preference for the 
former, and when the two are growing near one another, 
it will first attack the Gooseberry. 

It may at once be distinguished from any other worm 
found either on Gooseberry or Currant, by its being 
what is popularly called a Measuring-worm. Figure 123, 
shows this larva, which, when full-grown, measures about 
an inch, and is of a light-yellow color, with lateral white 
lines, and numerous black spots and round dots. The 
head is white, with two black eye -like spots on the outer 
sides above, and two smaller ones beneath. The six 
true legs are black, and the four pro-legs yellow. It at- 
tains its growth about the middle of June, when it de- 
scends to the ground, and either burrows a little below 
the surface, or hides under any rubbish that may be lying 
there; but in neither case does it form any cocoon. 
Shortly after this it changes to a chrysalis, shown at the 
199 



200 



INJUEIOUS mSECTS 



left-hand side in figure 123, of a shining mahogany color. 
In abont fourteen days it bursts the pupa shell, and, 
early in July, appears as a moth, represented in figure 123, 
the upper one being the male, with feathered feelers, and 
the lower the female, in which these are simple. The 




Fig. 123.— GOOSEBERRY SPAN-WORM {EufttcMa rihearia). 



moth is of a pale nankin-yellow color, the wings shaded 
with faint dusky leaden-colored spots arranged so as not 
to present any definite pattern. The female lays her 
eggs on the branches and twigs of the bushes, hence the 
species is frequently carried in the egg state upon trans- 
planted bushes from one neighborhood to another; which 
accounts for its sudden appearance in parts where it was 
before unknown. For there is but one brood of this 



OF THE FARM AifD GAEDEN. 



201 



insect in one year, and the eggs must consequently, like 
those of the Tent- worm of the Apple tree, be exposed, 
on the twigs and limbs to w^hich they are attached, to all 
the heats of July and August without hatching out, and 
• to all the frosts of December and January without freez- 
ing out. At length, when the proper time arrives, and 
the Gooseberry and Currant bushes are out in full leaf 
so as to afford plenty of food, the tiny tough little egg 
hatches out about the latter end of May, and in a little 
more than three weeks the worms attain their full larval 
development. 

This Gooseberry Span-worm was first noticed near 
Chicago in 1862 or '63; and for two or three years after- 
wards it increased rapidly, so as in most gardens not to 
leave a single leaf on the Gooseberry, and in many in- 
stances to entirely strip the Currant bushes. It is quite 
common also in St. Louis and Jefferson Counties in 
Missouri, and has entirely stripped the Gooseberry 
bushes on many farms in these counties. Elsewhere in 
the Western States it is not by any means common; but 
in many localities in the East it has been a severe pest 
for a great number of years, especially in the States of 
New York and Pennsylvania. This is a native insect 
which no doubt formerly lived upon our several native 
species of Gooseberry. When cultivated Gooseberries 
were planted within their reach, they manifested a 
decided preference for these, and multiplied so rapidly 
as to become, in some localities, a serious pest to the 
fruit grower. 

Remedies. — These worms, when disturbed, let them- 
selves down from the bushes, and hang suspended by a 
web. This habit may be made useful in destroying 
them. If the bushes are shaken by means of a forked 
stick, while the worms are still young, these will at once 
let themselves down by their threads; the stick may be 
then passed along against the threads to draw the worms 



202 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



to tlie ground, where tliey may be crushed. Poultry 
may be used to capture the worms when they descend 
to the ground to transform. One of the most effective 
remedies for this, and all similar worms, is White Helle- 
bore, used as described under Imported Ourrant-worm. 

THE IMPORTED CURRANT- WORM. 
(Nematus ventricosus, Ring.) 

When the Currant-worm is mentioned in the Eastern 
States, this is most likely to be the insect referred to. 
It is the larva of a Saw-fly of the Order Hyme7ioptera; 
these are called False-caterpillars, as they never have less 




Fig. 124. — THE IMPORTED CURE ANT-WORM {Nemolus ventricosus, Ring.) 

than six, sometimes as many as eight pairs of 
pro-legs, while the True-caterpillars never have more 
than five pairs. The insect is a native of Europe, and is 
supposed to have been introduced into some of the nurs- 
eries at Kochester, Y., cibout the year 1857, though 
it appears to have been known in Canada at an earlier 



OF THE FAEM AND GAKDEi^. 



203 



date. It is yery abundant in the New England States, 
and in 'New York and Pennsylyania, and lias extended to 
some of tlie Western States. The insect appears soon 
after the Currant and Gooseberry bushes put forth their 
leaves, and the eggs are laid upon the under surface of the 
lower leaves, along the principal veins. The eggs hatch 
in a week or ten days into a pale, twenty-legged Oater- 
piller, with a large dull whitish head. They soon become 
green, and acquire shining black spots on the body, and 
the head becomes black. 
The full-grown worms 
are about three-fourths 
of an inch long and are 
shown in various j^osi- 
tions in figure 124, b 
gives the position of the 
black spots upon a mag- 
nified joint of the body. 
When they have com- 
pleted their growth, they 
leave the bushes, and 
either hide just below 
the surface of the 
ground, or under any 
leaves that may be on Fig. 125.— the perfect insect. 
the surface, spin a thin «. ^aie b. Female, 

cocoon of brownish silk, within which they assume the 
pupa state. Late in June, or early in July, sometimes 
not until August, the perfect insects appear; a second 
crop of eggs is laid, and the same round is repeated; but 
this second brood does not issue from the pupa until the 
following spring. The perfect insect is shown in figure 
125, a being the male, and b the female, the lines show- 
ing the actual size. 

Those who receive Currant bushes from a distance, in 
order to avoid the introduction of this insect in the pupa 




204 



IKJUEIOUS Ijq"SECTS 



state, should carefully wasli tlie roots of the plants, and 
burn whatever may be washed from them. 

Re:\iedies. — AYhen the worms are not checked, they 
soon strip ]x)th the Currant and Gooseberry bushes of 
their leayes, and the 23artly grown fruit shrivels and dies. 
The insect threatened to put an end to Currant culture 
in localities where it is an important crop, until an effec- 
tive remedy was made known. By the prompt use of 
White Hellebore the insect may be subdued with but lit- 
tle trouble and the crop saved. Some papers speak of 
the use of Hellebore/' and it is necessary to specify 
AVhite Hellebore ( Veratrum albiwi) which is an entirely 
different drug from the Black Hellebore [Helleloriis 
niger). The powdered root, as sold at the drug stores, is 
of a light greenish-yellow color and excites violent sneez- 
ing when taken into the nostrils, hence care should be 
observed in handling it. The powder may be sprinkled 
upon the bushes by means of a tin sifter, but this is often 
attended by unpleasant sneezing, and is not so economi- 
cal or effective as to apply it mixed with water. Place a 
heaping tablespoonful of the powder in a bowl or other 
dish holding a quart or more, gradually add boiling 
water, stirring to make sure that the powder is thoroughly 
wetted; then add more water, stirring until a quart, more 
or less, has been added. Turn this mixture into a pail- 
ful of cold water, stir well, and apply by the use of any 
garden sp'inge or hand engine, or a watering pot may be 
used. The object should be to wet every leaf, hence 
much force is not needed. In a few days, if any worms 
are found to have escaped, the application should be re- 
peated; rarely are more than two doses needed. AVhile 
White Hellebore is poisonous, no danger need be appre- 
hended from the use of the fruit from bushes thus 
treated. The chances are that the rains will wash off 
any of the powder that may adhere to the clusters; but" 
if any ap|)reciable quantity should remain, the fruit 



OF THE FARM AND GARDEK. 205 

would appear soiled, and be rejected on that account. 
The use of White Hellebore is so easy and so effective 
that none of the other applications that have been recom- 
mended need be noticed. 

Natural Enemies. — There will be found in the IXth 
Missouri Eeport, a yery full account of this Saw-fly, which 
states that it is attacked by several insect enemies, 
among which are the Placid Soldier Bug, and that there 
are at least two Ichneumon Flies that infest it. 

THE NATIVE CURRANT WORM. 

(Pristiphora grossularice, Walsh.) 

This, like the Imported Currant-worm, is the larva of 
a Saw-fly, but of a different genus, distinguished by en- 




Fig. 126. — THE NATIVE CURRANT-WORM (PrisHphom grossulat'ice, Walsh.) 
a, Larva ; Z>, Perfect Insect. 

tomologists on account of the different veining of the 
wings. The larva is smaller than in the preceding, only 
half an inch long, and is of an uniform pale-green color, 
without any black dots. It does not go under -ground to 
make its cocoon, but always spins it among the twigs 
and leaves of the bushes. Figure 126 gives the larva of 
the natural size and the enlarged fly; the male and female 
being so nearly alike that separate figures are not needed. 
Unlike the preceding, the second brood issues the same 
autumn, and the eggs are laid upon the stems, where 



206 



INJURIOUS Il^SECTS 



they pass tlie winter. Wherever this native insect occurs 
upon the cnltivated Gooseberry and Currant, it may be 
subdued by the use of AYhite Hellebore as recommended 
for the Imported Currant- v/orm. 

THE CURRANT STALK-BORER. 

{^geria tipuUformis, Linn.) 

This is an imported insect and of the same genus as 
the Peach-borer. The moth lays her eggs singly near the 
buds, and the larvae, when hatched, make their way di- 
rectly to the pith, which they devour, forming a channel 
several inches in length. The stem, thus weakened, 
shows by the inferior size of its fruit that this insect is 
present, and it often breaks off at the affected part. The 
impoverished growth of the stems indicates the presence 
of this borer, and at the fall pruning, all such should be 
cut away and burned. 



THE STRAWBERRY. 

Among the insect enemies of the Strawberry, the com- 
mon White Grub is probably one of the most destructive. 
This insect, which is injurious to so many different 
plants, is described in full, and suggestions for its sup- 
pression are given on page 33. Their injury to Straw- 
berry plantations results mainly from bad management 
and the failure of the grower to use preventive meas- 
ures. Good old pasture and meadow lands are frequently 
selected for Strawberry plantations, and sod is turned 
over, and as soon as sufficiently rotted, the plants are set 
out. In the meantime the grubs that were already in 
the ground, and perhaps of various ages from a few 



OF THE FARM AXD GAEDEX. 



207 



weeks to a year or two, have been fasting, or making an 
occasional meal of the half decayed grass-roots. Finding 
fresh Strawberry roots thrust before them, they com- 
mence a most vigorous attack upon such tender food. 
The planter is astonished to see his Strawberries disap- 
pear, and wonders where all the grubs could haye come 
fi'om in so short a time. 

Now in regions where the White G-rub abounds it is 
not safe to set out Strawberries on freshly inverted sod; 
but the land should be cultivated at least two seasons in 
some crop requiring frequent hoeing and plowing, before 
using it for this purpose. Neither should the Strawberry 
plantation remain or be continued on the same piece of 
land for more ^that two or three years, if what is called 
the matted or" bed system of cultivation is pursued; be- 
cause the parent beetle soon learns that these weedy, lit- 
tle-disturbed plantations, are a safe place for her to de- 
posit her eggs. 

To avoid injury to Strawberry plantations by this 
insect, use land that has been occupied at least two years 
in some hoed crop, like corn, potatoes, or beans, and 
then set out a new one on fresh land as soon as the old 
plants begin to fail. 

THE STRAWBEREY WORM. 

{Emphytus maculatus, Norton.) 

Among the various other kinds of insects injurious to 
the Strawberry there is perhaps none more destructive 
than that known as the Strawberry Worm." This pest 
is a small, slender, pale-green worm, that attacks the 
leaves, eating large holes in them. When at all abun- 
dant it soon destroys the entire foliage, and of course pre- 
vents further growth of the plants. A. S. Fuller, in the 
'^American Entomologist" says: A few years ago this 



208 



IITJUEIOUS INSECTS 



pest almost ruined the plants in my garden, but of late 
it has not been very abundant, although it has not 
entirely disappeared. This Strawberry Worm is the 
larva of a small black fly, which has of late years 
become abundant throughout the Northern States and 
appears to be more destructive at the West than at the 
East. The worms are of a yellowish-green color, a little 
over half an inch long, and when feeding are usually curl- 
ed up as in fig. 127. The parent fly (fig. 128), is black, 
with two rows of whitish spots on the abdomen, and ap- 
pears in the JSTorthern States in May. The full-grown 




Fig. 127.— strawbesry-worm Fig. 128.— fly of strawberry- 

{Mnphytusmaculatus, Norton). worm. 



larvae descend and enter the ground, remaining in the 
pupa state until the following spring. Dusting the leaves 
with lime, when they are wet with dew, or Just after a 
rain, is the best method of destroying the pest yet found. 

STRAWBERRY LEAF-BEETLE. 

{Paria aterrima, Oliv.) 

Within a few years, in widely separated localities, 
from Massachusetts to Missouri, a small brownish beetle 
has been found attacking the leaves of the Strawberry 
plants, doing much damage. The larva of this beetle is 
white, with a yellowish head, and is about a fourth of an 
inch long; it lives in the soil, feeding upon the roots of 
the Strawberry. The beetle is only an eighth of an inch 



OF THE FAEM AKD GAEDEK. 



209 



long; tlie wing-covers are yellowish, and each usually 
has two black spots, the posterior one larger than the 
other. When numerous, it completely defoliates the 
plants. Paris Green or London Purple may be used 
when the fruit is off to destroy this insect in the man- 
ner described under Colorado Potato-beetle. 




THE STRAWBERRY LEAF-ROLLER. 

(Anchylopera fragarice, Walsh and Riley.) 

This insect, like the preceding, has been more trouble- 
some at the AYest than at the East. It is the larva of a 
moth shown in figure 129, a. of ^.rrrr^^ 
the real size, while the moth, by is " 
enlarged, as shown by the lines be- 
low it. In feeding, it folds up the 
leaves by drawing their edges to- 
gether with silken threads, and eats ^ ^_ . ' 
out the pulj)y portions. There are r f 
two broods each year; the first one h 
completing their transformations on Fig. 129.— strawberry 

, T , 1 j^i <2 <! T 1 LEAF-ROLLER (Aucltylopem 

the leaves about the nrst oi July. fragarice). 

The second brood of worms enter «, Larva of real size Moth 

eularged. 

the ground, where they change into 
the pupae, and remain in that state until the next 
spring. The habit the worms have of rolling themselves 
in the leaves, renders the application of any insecticide 
very difficult. It has been suggested to burn off the old 
leaves, after the fruit has been gathered, or to pass a 
heavy roller over the plants. 

THE STRAWBERRY CROWN-BORER. 

{Tyloderma fragarice, Riley.) 



This enemy to the Strawberry grower has been more 
abundant in Canada and the Western States than else- 



210 



INJURIOUS IJ^SECTS 



where. The perfect insect is a small Snout-beetle, or 
Curculio, shown in figure 130, enlarged, the line giving 
the real size. The eggs are laid in the 
crowns of the plants, where the grubs 
destroy the embryo fruit stalks and leaves. 
The only remedy thus far suggested is, 
to plow up tiie infested plantations as soon 
as the fruit is gathered, while the young 
grubs are still in the crowns of the plants. 

Fig. 130. -STRAW- OTHER ENEMIES TO THE STRAWBERRY. 

BERRY CROWN- ot j • n t • 

BORER. Sometimes a green ny or aphis, espe- 

cially in light, loose soil, will attack the 
roots in large numbers. Dry ashes, or the use of the 
refuse dust of tobacco factories, a^^plied close to these 
plants will destroy these insects; so would the use of 
tobacco-water. 

The Red Spider is often injurious to the Strawberry, 
when forced under glass, and sometimes, in dry seasons, 
in the open ground. In either case, copious waterings, 
a thorough drenching of the leaves, is the best remedy. 




THE BLACKBERRY. 

Some ten years ago, the cultivators of the Blackberry 
in various parts of New Jersey noticed that the ends of 
the young growing canes in summer would occasionally 
curl, twist about, and often assume a singular, fasci- 
ated form, resulting in an entire check to their growth. 
The leaves on these infested shoots did not die and fall 
off, but merely curled up, sometimes assuming a deeper 
green than the healthy leaves on the same stalk. At the 
approach of winter the infested leaves remained firmly 



OF THE FARM AKD GAEDEK. 



211 



attached to the diseased stems, and all through the cold 
weather and far into the spring, these leaf -laden and dis- 
eased stems were a conspicuous object in many of the 
Blackberry plantations of the State. 

If the infested shoots are examined in summer, thou- 
sands of minute insects of a pale-yellow color and covered 
with a powdery exudation will be found sucking the 
juices of the succulent stems and leaves, causing the 
crimping, curling, and twisting of these parts as de- 
scribed. 

This parasite resembles somewhat an ordinary green-fly 
{Aphis) or plant-louse, but according to recent observations 
it is now known to belong to the closely allied Flea-lice 
family (PsylUdce), distinguished from the plant- lice by 
a different veining of the wings, and by the antennae be- 
ing knobbed at the tip, like those of the butterfly, the knob 
usually terminating in two bristles. These insects jump 
as briskly as a flea, from which characteristic they derive 
their scientific name. The particular species in question 
was called by Prof. Eiley the Bramble Flea-louse {Psyl- 
la ruUy in the "American Entomologist. " It has increas- 
ed very rapidly during the past half dozen years or more, 
and unless fruit-growers make a more vigorous fight 
than they yet have done, it will soon get the mastery of 
most Blackberry plantations. The only practical method 
as yet discovered for checking the ravages of this insect, 
is, to cut off the ends of the infested canes and burn 
them. This operation should always be performed 
either in the morning, or during cool wet weather, 
else many of the insects will escape, and at all times the 
severed shoots should be immediately dropped into bags 
and in them carried to the place where they are to be 
burned, and there emptied into the fire. If all having 
Blackberry bushes in their gardens would practice this 
method of destruction, this pest would soon cease to do 
much harm. 



212 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



BLACKBERRY BORERS. 

Several species of Borers infest the Blackberry: the 
most common one is the larva of a small, slender, red- 
necked beetle {Oherea perspicillata, Hald.), fig. 131. The 
small, legless grubs bore the pith of the canes, causing 
them to die prematurely, or so weakening them that they 
are broken down with the wind. As there are some four- 
teen or fifteen species of the Oherea now known, it may 
be that more than one species breed in the Blackberry. 
Thus far, however, I am not aware that they have been 
very injurious, but it would be well to gather all infested 
canes and burn them with their contents. 

The Blackberry is subject to the attacks of several spe- 
cies of gall-insects. A fuzzy, prickly gall on the twigs 
is produced by a four-winged fly {Diastrophus 
cusciitmformis 0. S. ) Another species of the 
same genus {Diastrop)lius nehulosus 0. S.) pro- 
duces a large pithy gall on canes, but both 
of these gall-makers have very formidable 
Fi^. 131. parasitic enemies which keep them in check. 
BLACKBERRT Thcrc arc also a few leaf-eating beetles, sluo^s 

BOREK. . O 7 O 

and caterpillars, that sometimes attack the 
Blackberry, but they are seldom sufficiently numerous 
or injurious to attract much attention. The larger 
species are readily destroyed by hand-gathering, and the 
smaller ones can usually be driven off by dusting the 
plants with lime. 

The most formidable enemy however of both the Black- 
berry and Easpberry is the Orange-rust, a minute fungus 
( Uredo rubor um). It is perhaps more abundant on the 
Black-cap Easpberry {Ruhus occidentalis) than on the 
ordinary varieties of the Blackberry; still it is sufficiently 
abundant and destructive to all to attract the attention 
of horticulturists throughout the country. I do not 
know of any remedy except to stamj^ out the disease by 




OP THE FARil AKD GARDEK. 



213 



rooting up every affected plant and burning it. It may 
be that applications of lime, salt, or some similar sub- 
stance would check the disease, and while these may be 
safely tried as preventiye measures, the destroying of all 
infested plants should not be omitted. 



THE RASPBEERY. 



the Blackberry, 



As the Raspberry is closely allied to 
and belongs to the same genus, the 
diseases and insects infesting both do 
not materially dilfer. Some few spe- 
cies of insects seem to prefer the Rasp- 
berry, notably among which is what 
is called the the Red-necked Bu- 
pestris {Agrilus rnficol- 
lis, fig. 132), a small 
beetle that seems to be 
particularly fond of the 
red and black-cap vari- 
eties, hut will occasion- 
ally attack the Black- 
berry. The larva bores 
into the canes in sum- 
mer, causiug large ex- 
crescences or galls (fig. 
133), checking the flow of sap, and 
causing the death of the cane. This 
insect seems to be far more plentiful 
in the Western than Eastern States; 
but it is widely distributed, and every 
cultivator of the Raspberry may as 
well be on the lookout for it, and 
gather and burn all canes ujoon which galls of any kind 
are found. 





Fiu". 133.— GALLS IN 
RASPBERRY CANE. 



214 



IKJUKIOUS INSECTS 



THE SNOWY TREE-CRICKET. 



{CEcanthus niveus, Harris.) 



The Snowy Tree-Cricket, fig. 134, prefers the canes of 
the RasiDberry for its eggs to the twigs of other shrubs or 
trees. It will, however, use the Grape, 
Willow, Peach, and other kinds, if 
Raspberries are not convenient. The 
long, slender eggs are deposited in a 
close compact row, an inch or more 
in length, each egg placed at a slight 
angle, and deep enough to reach the o^T 
pith of the cane or twig in which it 
is set (fig. 135). This weakens the 





Fig. 134.— SNOWY TREE-CRICKET {(Ecan^ 
thus niveus.) 

canes, and they are often broken off 
by the wind. This injury does not 
amount to much, but the perfect 
insect has a very bad habit of cutting 
off leaves in summer; and sometimes 
extends its mischievous work to the ^ 
grape-vine, trimming off both leaves ^. 

^ . • 1 J. 1 ^^Sf. 135.— EGGS OF 

and fruit, workmg at night vmen per- snoVt tree-cricket. 
fectly safe from observation or moles- '^'ESs'^wiliiki s?em;Ti:gg 
tation. One of my correspondents in ^^^^^^^^'^ 
Texas wrote me, a few years ago, that one of these pests 
would completely defoliate a young grape-vine in a sin- 
gle night, and he was a long time in discerning the 
successful nocturnal pruner, and when discovered he was 
at a loss how to circumvent it. Destroying the eggs is 
the only way thus far known of fighting this insect. 



1 



OF THE A^D GAKDEK. 

THE GEAPE-YINE. 

THE HOG-CATERPn.LAE OF THE VINE. 

{ChcBrocampa pampinatrix, Smith & Abbott.) 

Of the large, solitary caterpillars that attack the Grape- 
vine, this is by far the most common and injurious in the 
Mississippi Valley. We haye frequently found the egg 
of this insect glued singly to the underside of a leaf. It is 
0.05 inch in diameter, perfectly round, and of a uniform 




Fig. 136.— HOG-CATERPILLA.R OF THE VINE (Chcerocampa pampinatHx.) 

delicate yellowish-green color. The young worm which 
hatches from it, is pale-green, with a long straight horn 
at its tail; and after feeding from four to five weeks it 
acquires its full growth, when it presents the appearance 
of figure 136, the horn having become comparatively 
shorter and acquired a posterior curve. 

This worm is readily distinguished from other grape- 
feeding species by having the third and fourth rings im- 
mensely swollen, while the first and second rings are 



215 ! 

j 



216 



IHJUEIOUS INSECTS 




gnlar 
back, 



quite small and retractile. It is from this peculiar ap- 
pearance of the fore part of the body, which strikingly 
suggests the fat cheeks and shoulders aud small head of 
some breeds of swine, that it may best be known as the 
Hog-caterj)illar of the yine. The color of this worm 
when full grown is pea-green, and it is wrinkled trans- 
versely and covered with numerous pale-yellow dots, 
placed in irregular transverse rows. An oblique cream- 
colored lateral band, bordered below with a darker green 
and most distinct on the middle segments, connects with 
a cream-colored subdorsal line, which is bordered above 
with darker green, and which extends from the head to 
the horn at the tail. There are five and often six some- 
what pale-yellow trian- 
patches along the 
each containing a 
lozenge-shaped lilac-col- 
ored spot. The head is 
small, with yellow granu- 
lations, and four perpen- 
dicular yellow lines, and 
the stigmata or sjDiracles 
are orange-brown. When about to transform, the color of 
this worm usually changes to a pinkish-brown, the darker 
parts being of a beautiful mixture of crimson and brown. 
Previous to this change of color Mr. J. A. Lintner has 
observed the worm to pass its mouth over the entire sur- 
face of its body, even to the tij) of its horn, covering it 
with a coating of apparently glutinous matter — the o-per- 
ation lasthig about tvro hours. Before transforming into 
the pupa or chrysalis state, it descends from the vine, 
and within some fallen leaf or under any other rubbish 
that may be lying on the ground, forms a mesh of strong 
brown silk, within which it soon changes to a chrysalis 
(fig. 137) of a pale, warm yellow, speckled and spotted with 
brown, but characterized chiefly by the conspicuous dark 



-CHRYSALIS OF 
PILLAR. 



HO&- CATER- 



OF THE PARM AKD GARDEK. 



211 



brown spiracles and broad brown incisures of the three 
larger abdominal segments. 

The moth (fig. 138) which in time bursts from this 
chrysalis, has the body and front wings of a fleshy-gray, 
marked and shaded with olive-green, while the hind 
wings are of a deep rust-color, with a small shade of 
gray near their inner angle. 

This insect is in northerly regions one-brooded, but 
towards the south two-brooded, the first worms appear- 
ing in the latitude of St. Louis, during June and July, 
and giving out the moths about two weeks after they 
become chrysalids, or from the middle of July to the first 




Fig. 138.— MOTH OF HOG-CATERPILLAR. 



of August. The second brood of worms are full grown 
in September and, passing the winter in the chrysalis 
state, give out the moths the following May. On one 
occasion we found at South Pass, 111., a worm half 
grown and still feeding as late as October 20th, a circum- 
stance which would lead to the belief, that at points 
where the winters are mild they may even hibernate in 
the larva state. 

This worm is a most voracious feeder, and a single one 
will sometimes strip a small vine of its leaves in a few 
nights. According to Harris it does not even confine its 
attacks to the leaves, but in its progress from leaf to 
leaf, stops at every cluster of fruit, and either from 
10 



218 



IKJUEIOUS UsTSECTS 



stupidity, or disaj)pointment, nips off the stalks of the 
half-grown grapes and allows them to fall to the ground 
untasted. It is fortunate for the grape-grower therefore 
that Nature has furnished the ready means to prevent its 
ever becoming excessively numerous, for we have never 
known it to swarm in very great numbers. The obvious 
reason is, that it is so freely attacked by a small parasitic 
Ichneumon-fly — belonging to a genus {Microg aster) ex- 
ceedingly numerous in species — that three out of every 
four worms we meet with will generally be found to be 
thus victimized. The eggs of the parasite are deposited 
within the body of the worm, while it is yet young, and 
the young maggots hatching from them feed on the fatty 
parts of their victim. After the last moult of a worm 
that has been thus attacked, numerous little heads may 
be seen gradually pushing through different parts of its 
body; and as soon as they have worked themselves so far 
out that they are held only by the last joint of the body, 
they commence forming their small snow-white cocoons, 
which stand on end, pushes open a little lid which it had 
previously cut with its jaws, and soars away to fulfil its 
mission. It is one of those remarkable and not easily 
explained facts, which often confront the student of Na- 
ture, that, while one of these Hog-caterpillars in its nor- 
mal and healthy condition may be starved to death in 
two or three days, another that is writhing with its 
body full of parasites will live without food for as 
many weeks. Indeed we have known one to rest for 
three weeks without food in a semi-paralyzed condition, 
and after the parasitic flies had all escaped from their 
cocoons, it would rouse itself and make a desperate 
effort to regain strength by nibbling at a leaf which 
was offered to it. Bnt all worms thus attacked suc- 
cumb in the end, and the grape-grower should let 
alone all such as are found to be covered with white 
cocoons, and not, as has been often done, destroy them 



OF THE FARM Al^D GABDEK. 



219 



under the false imiDression that the cocoons are the eggs 
of the worm. The cocoons of a parasite are shown upon 
another large larva, on page 88; figure 59. 

THE ACHEMON SPHINX. 
(Philampelus achemon, Drury.) 

This is another large Grape-vine-feeding insect, belong- 
ing to the great SjMnx family, and which may be popu- 
larly known as the Achemon Sphinx. It has been found 
in almost every State where the Grape is cultivated, and 
also in Canada. It feeds on the American Woodbine 
or Virginia Creeper (Ampelopsls qui7iquefolia) with as 
much relish as on the Grape-vine, and seems to show no 
preference for any of the different varieties of the latter. 
It is, however, worthy of remark, that both its food- 
plants belong to the same Botanical Family. 

The full grown worm or larva is usually found during 
the latter part of August and fore part of September. It 
measures about three and one-half inches when crawling, 
which operation is effected by a series of sudden jerks. 
The third segment is the largest, the second but half its 
size, and the first still smaller, and when at rest the two 
last mentioned segments are partly withdrawn into the 
third. The young larva is green, with a long slender 
reddish horn rising from the eleventh segment and curv- 
ing over the back, and though we have found full grown 
specimens that were equally as green as the younger 
ones, they more generally assume a pale-straw or red- 
dish-brown color, and the long recurved horn is invaria- 
bly replaced by a highly polished lenticular tubercle. 
It is often of a pale-straw color which deepens at 
the sides and finally merges into a rich vandyke- 
brown. The worm is covered more or less with minute 
spots which are dark on the back but light and annulated 



220 



INJURIOUS IKSECTS 



at tlie sides, while there are from six to eight transverse 
wrinkles on all hnt the thoracic and caudal segments. 

The color of the worm, when about to transform, is 
often of a most beantif al pink or crimson. The chrysa- 
lis is formed within a smooth cavit}^ under ground. It 
is of a dark shiiiy mahogany-brown color, shagreened or 
roughened, especially at the anterior edge of the seg- 
ments on the back. 

Unlike the Hog-caterpillar of the Vine, this insect is 
eyerywhere single-brooded, the chrysalis remaining in the 
ground through the fall, winter, and spring months, and 
producing the moth towards the latter part of June. 

The moth is of a brown-gray color, handsomely varie- 
gated with light-brown, and with dark deep brown spots. 
The hind wings are pink with a dark shade across the 
middle, still darker spots below this shade, and a broad 
gray border behind. 

We have never found any parasite attacking this spe- 
cies, but its solitary habit and large size make it a con- 
spicuous object, and it is easily controlled by hand, when- 
ever it becomes unduly numerous upon the Grape-vine. 

THE SATELLITE SPHINX. 
{Philampelus satelUtia, Linn.) 

Like the Achemon Sphinx, this insect occurs in almost 
every State in the Union. It also bears a strong resem- 
blance to the former species, and likewise feeds upon the 
Virginia Creeper (A?n2:>elopsis), as well as upon the G-rape- 
vine; but the worm may be distinguished by having five 
cream-colored spots each side, instead of six, and by the 
spots themselves being less scalloped. 

In the latitude of St. Louis, this worm is found full 
grown throughout the month of September, and a few 
specimens may even be found as late as the last of Octo- 



OF THE FARM AJ^^D GARDEi^. 



221 



ber. The eggs of this species, as of all other Hawk- 
moths {8pMnx family) known to us, are glued singly to 
the leaf of the plant which is to furnish the future worm 
with food. When first hatched, and for some time after- 




Fig. 139.— CATERPiLLAB OF SATELLITE SPHINX (PMlampelus satclUtia, 

Linn.) 

a. Mature Larva ; b, at rest -, c, Young Larva. 

wards, the larva is green, with a tinge of pink along the 
sides, and with an immensely long straight pink horn at 
the tail. This horn begins to shorten, and finally curls 
round like a dog's tail, as at figure 139, c. As the worm 



222 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



grows older it changes to a reddisli-brown, and by tlie 
third moult it entirely loses the horn. 

When full grown^ it measures nearly four inches in 
length, and when crawling appears as figure 139, a. It 
crawls by a series of sudden jerks, and will often fling its 
head savagely from side • to side when alarmed. Dr. 
Morris describes the mature larva as being green, with 
six side patches; but though we have happened across 
many specimens of this worm during the last seven years, 
we never once found one that was green after the third 
moult; nor do we believe that there are ever any more 
than five full-sized yellow spots each side, even in the 
young individuals. The specimen from which our figure 
was made, occurred at Hermann, Missouri, in Mr. George 
Husmann's former vineyard. The back was pinkish, 
inclining to flesh- color; the sides gradually became 
darker and darker, and the five patches on segments 6 
to 10 inclusive, were cream-yellow with a black annula- 
tion, and shaped as in our figure. On segments 2, 3, 4, 
5 and 6, were numerous small black dots, but on each of 
the following five segments there were but two such dots. 
A pale longitudinal line ran above the yellow patches, 
and the head and first joint were uniformly dull reddish- 
brown. 

The most common general color of the full grown 
worm is a rich velvety vinous-brown. When at rest, it 
draws back the fore part of the body, and retracts the 
head and first two joints into the third (fig. 139, b), and 
in this motionless position it no doubt manages to 
escape from the clutches of many a hungry insectivorous 
bird. 

When about to transform, the larva of our Satellite 
Sphinx enters a short distance into the ground, and soon 
works off its caterpillar-skin and becomes a chrysalis of a 
deep cliestnut-brown. The moth (fig. 140) makes its 
appearance in June of the following year, though it has 



OF THE A^TD GARDEI^. 223 



been known to issue the same year that it had existed 
as larva. In this last event, it doubtless becomes barren, 
like others under similar circumstances. The colors of 




the moth are light olive-gray, variegated as in the figure 
with dark olive-green. The worms are easily subdued 
by hand-picking. 



224: 



IXJUEIOUS INSECTS 



THE ABBOT SPHIXX. 

{Thyreus Abbotii, Swainson.) 

This is another of the hirge Grape-feeding insects, oc- 
curring on the cultivated and indigefious yines and on 
the Virginia Creeper, and having, in the full grovm 
larva state, a j^ohshed tubercle instead of a horn at the 
tail. Its habitat is given by Dr. Clemens, as Xew York, 
Pennsylvania, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Ohio; but 
though not so common as the Si^hinx Moths ah'eady 
described, yet it is often met Trith both in Illinois and 




Fig. 141.— THE ABBOT sPHi]o: {Tliyreus AWotU, Swain.) 
Larva and Motti. 



Missouri. The larva which is represented in the upj^er 
part of figure 141 varies considerably in appearance. 
Indeed, the grotmd-color seems to depend in a measure 
on the sex, for Dr. Morris describes this larva as reddish- 
brown ^Hth numerous patches of light-green, and express- 
ly states that the female is of a uniform reddish-brown, 
with an interrujited dark-brown dorsal line and trans- 
verse strite lines. T\'e have reared two individuals which 



OF THE FARM AKD GARDEI^-. 



225 



came to their growth about the last of July, at which 
time they were both without a vestige of green. The 
grouucl-color was dirty yellowish, especially at the sides. 
Each segment was marked transversely with six or seven 
slightly impressed fine black lines, and longitudinally 
with wider non-impressed dark-brown patches, alternat- 
ing with each other, and giving the worm a checkered 
appearance. These patches become more dense along 
the subdorsal region, where they form two irregular dark 
lines, which on the thoracic segments become single, 
with a similar line between them. There was also a 
dark stigmatal line with a lighter shade above it, and a 
dark stripe running obliquely downwards from the pos- 
terior to the anterior portion of each segment. The 
belly was yellow with a tinge of pink between the pro- 
legs, and the shiny tubercle at the tail was black, with a 
yellowish ring around the base. The head, which is 
characteristically marked, and by which this worm can 
always be distinguished from its allies — no matter what 
the ground-color of the body may be — is slightly rough- 
ened and dark, with a lighter broad band each side, and 
a central mark down the middle which often takes the 
form of an X- This worm does not assume the common 
Sphinx attitude of holding u^d the head, but rests 
stretched at full length, though if disturbed it will throw 
its head from side to side, thereby producing a crepitating 
noise. 

The chrysalis is formed in a superficial cell on the 
ground; its surface is black and roughened by confluent 
punctures, but between the joints it is smooth and in- 
clines to brown; the head-case is broad and rounded, and 
the tongue-case is level with the breast; the tail termi- 
nates in a rough flattened wedge-shaped j^oi^itj, which 
gives out extremely small thorns from the end. 

The Moth (figure 141,) appears in the following 
March or April, there being but one brood each year. It 



226 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



is of a dull chocolate or grayisli-ltrown color, tlie front 
wings becoming lighter beyond the middle, and being 
variegated with dark brown as in the figure; the hind 
wings are sulphur-yellow, with a broad dark-brown bor- 
der breaking into a series of short lines on a flesh-colored 
ground, near the body. The wings are deeply scalloped, 
especially the front ones, and the body is furnished with 
lateral tufts. When at rest, the abdomen is curiously 
curved up in the air. 

THE BLUE CATERPILLAES OF THE VINE. 

Besides the large Sjohinx caterpillars, described and fig- 
ured on the preceding pages, every grape-grower must have 
observed certain so-called '^Blue Caterpillars," which, 
though far from being uncommon, are yet very rarely 
sufficiently numerous to cause alarm, though in some few 
cases they have been known to strip certain vines. There 
are three distinct species of these blue caterpillars, which 
bear a sufficient resemblance to one another, to cause 
them to be easily confounded. The first and by far the 
most common in the West, is the larva of 

THE EIGHT-SPOTTED FORESTER. 
{Alypia octomaculata, Fabr.) 

This larva (fig. 142, a), may often be found in the lati- 
tude of St. Louis as early as the beginning of May, and 
more abundantly in June, while scattering individuals 
(probably of a second brood) are even met with, but half- 
grown, in the month of September. The young larva3 
are whitish with transverse lines, the colors not con- 
trasting so strongly as in the full-grown specimens, 
though the black spots are more conspicuous. They feed 
beneath the leaves and can let themselves down by a web. 



OF THE FARM AJ^D GARDEl^". 



227 



The full-grown larva often conceals itself within a folded 
leaf. It is of the form of our figure^ and is marked 
transversely with white and black lines, each segment 
having about eight liglit and eight dark ones. The blu- 
ish appearance of this caterpillar is owing to an optical 
phenomenon from the contrast of these white and black 
stripes. The head and the shield on the first segment 
are of a shiny bright deep orange color, marked with 
black dots, and there is a prominent transverse orange- 
red band, faint on segment 2 and 3^ conspicuous on 4 
and 11, and uniform in the middle of each of the other 
segments. In the middle 
segments of the body each 
orange band contains eight 
black elevated spots, each 
spot giving rise to a white 
hair. These spots are ar- 
ranged as in the enlarged 
section shown in the en- 
graving (fig. 142, h), name- 
ly, four on each side, as 
follows: the upper one on 

the anterior border of the ^ ^^^^ ^ 
oransre band, the second on J'ig- 142.— eight-spotted forester 

^ , ^ -, - {Alyjyia octo/naculata, Fabr.) 

its posterior border, the a, Larva ; b, section ; c, Moth. 

third just above spiracles 

on its anterior border — each of the three interrupting one 
of the transverse black lines — and the fourth, which is 
smaller, just behind the spiracles. The venter is black, 
slightly variegated with bluish-white, and with the orange 
band extending on the legless segment. The legs are 
black, and the false legs have two black spots on an 
orange ground, at their outer base, but the characteris- 
tic feature, which especially distinguishes it from the 
other two species, is a lateral white wavy band — obsolete 
on the thoracic segments, and most conspicuous on 10 




228 



H^JURIOUS Il^SECTS 



and 11 — running just below the spiracles, and interrupt- 
ed by the transverse orange band. 

This larva transforms to chrysalis within a very slight 
cocoon formed without silk, upon, or just below, the sur- 
face of the earth, and issues soon after, as a very beautiful 
moth of a deep blue-black color, with orange shanks, 
yellow shoulder-23ieces, each of the front wings with two 
large light yellow spots, and each of the hind wings with 
two white ones. Figure 142, c, represents the female, and 
the male diif ers from her in having the wing spots larger, 
and in having a conspicuous white mark along the top 
of his narrower abdomen. 

We have on one or two occasions known vines to be 
partly defoliated by this species, but never knew it to be 
quite so destructive as it often is in some Eastern local- 
ities. In New York City the vines in the yards are often 
completely stripped of their foliage through the agency 
of this and related caterpillars. 

THE BEAUTIFUL WOOD NYMPH. 
{Eudryas grata, Fabr). 

Here is another moth which surpasses in real beauty, 
though not in high contrast, the species just de- 
scribed. The front wings are milk-white, broadly bor- 
dered and marked on their margins with rusty-brown, 
the band on the outer margin being shaded on the inner 
side with olive-green, and marked towards the edge with 
a slender wavy white line: under surface yellow, with two 
dusky spots near the middle. The hind wings are nan- 
kin-yellow, with a deep-brown border, which does not 
extend to the outer angle, and which also contains a 
wavy white line: under surface yellow, with a single 
black spot. 

Surely these two moths are as unlike in general appear- 
ance as two moths well can be; and yet their caterpillars 



OF THE FaE^ AXD GAEDEi^. 



229 



bear snch a close resemblance to each other, and both 
feed upon the Grrape-vine. The larva of the Beautiful 
Wood Xymph is, in fact, so very similar to that of the 
Eight-spotted Forester, that it is entirely unnecessary to 
figure it. It differs more especially from that species by 
inyariably lacking the white patches along the sides: the 
hairs arising from the black spots are less cons23icuons, 
while the hump on the eleventh segment is somewhat 
more prominent. The light parts of the body have 
really a slight bluish tint, and in specimens which we 
have found, we have only noticed six transverse black 
stripes to each segment. This larva, when at rest, de- 
presses the head and raises the third and fourth segments. 
Sphinx-fashion. It is found on the vines in Missouri 
as early as May and as late as September, and it devours 
all portions of the leaf, even to the midrib. It descends 
to the ground, and, without making any cocoon, trans- 
forms to a chrysalis, which is dark colored, rough, with 
the tip of the abdomen obtusely conical, ending in 
four tubercles, the pair above, long and truncate, those 
below broad and short. Some of them give out the moth 
the same summer, but most of them pass the winter and 
do not issue as moths until the following spring. 

THE PEARL WOOD NYMPH. 
{Eudryas unio, Hiibner). 

This little moth is also closely allied to, and much re- 
sembling the jDreceding species. It is smaller, and differs 
from the Beautiful Wood Nymph in having the outer 
border of the front wings paler and of a tawny color, 
with the inner edge wavy instead of straight; and in that 
of the hind wings being less distinct, more double, and 
extending to the outer angle. 

The larva is said by Dr. Fitch to so much resemble that 
of the preceding species that we as yet know not whether 



230 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



there are any marks whereby they can be distinguished 
from each other." The moth is more common in the 
West than its larger ally, and though we have never bred 
it from the larva, yet we have often met with a worm 
which, for various reasons, we take to be this species. 
It never grows to be quite so large as the other, and may 
readily be distinguished by its more decided bluish cast; 
by having but four light and four dark stripes to each 
segment, by having no orange band across the middle seg- 
ments, and by the spots, with the exception of two on 
the back placed in the middle light band, being almost 
obsolete. The head, shield on first segment, hump on 
the 11th, and a band on the 12th, are orange, spotted 
with black. Venter orange, becoming dusky towards 
head; feet and legs also orange, with blackish extremities, 
and with spots on their outside at base. 

This worm works for the most part in the terminal 
buds of the vine, drawing the leaves together by a weak 
silken thread, and cankering them. It forms a simple 
earthen cocoon, or frequently bores into a piece of old 
wood, and changes to chrysalis, which averages but 0.36- 
inch in length : this chrysalis is reddish-brown, covered 
on the back with rows of very minute teeth, with the tip 
of the abdomen truncated, and terminating above in a 
thick blunt spine each side. 

From the above accounts, we hope our readers will have 
no difficulty in distinguishing between these three blue 
caterpillars of the Grape-vine. 

Remedies. — The larvae of the two Wood Nymphs have 
a fondness for boring into old pieces of wood, to transform 
to the chrysalis state, and Mr. T. B. Ashton, of White 
Creek, N. Y., found that they would even bore into corn 
cobs for this purpose in preference to entering the 
ground, wherever such cobs were accessible. The Eight- 
spotted Forester, on the contrary, has no such habit, and 
while the only mode of combating it is to pick the larvae 



OE THE FAEM AN^D GAEDEN. 



231 



off and burn them, the Wood Nymphs may be more 
easily subdued by scattermg a few corn-cobs under the 
vines in the summer — to be raked up and burned in the 
winter. It has been suggested that many of these moths 
might be destroyed by exposing poisoned molasses or 
syrup at the time of their appearance in spring. White 
Hellebore as described under Currant and Gooseberry 
would no doubt be efficacious, and good results may be 
expected to follow the use of Pyrethrum, or Persian In- 
sect Powder. 

THE GRAPE LEAF-FOLDEE. 

(Desmia maculalis, West.) 

This has long been known to depredate on the leaves 
of the Grape-vine in many widely separated parts of 
North America. It is not uncommon in Canada West, 
and is found in the extreme southern parts of Georgia. 
It appears to be far more injurious, however, in the in- 
termediate country, or between latitude thirty-five and 
forty degrees, than in any other sections, and in South- 
em Illinois and Central Missouri proves more or less in- 
jurious every year. It belongs to the same family as 
our notorious Clover-worm, which attacks our clover 
stacks and mows. 

This genus is characterized by the elbowed or knotted 
appearance of the male antennae, in contrast with the 
smooth, thread-like female antennae; the maxillary palpi 
are not visible, while the compressed and feathery labial 
palpi are recurved against the eyes, and reach almost to 
their summit; the body extends beyond the hind wings. 
The moth of the Grape Leaf -folder is a very pretty little 
thing, expanding on an average almost an inch, with a 
length of body of about one-third of an inch. It is con- 
spicuously marked, and the sexes differ sufficiently to 
have given rise to two names, the female having been 



INJURIOUS IKSECTS 



named Botys licolor. The color is black, with an opal- 
escent reflection, and the under surface differs only from 
the upj^er in being less bright; all the wings are bordered 
with white. The front wings of both sexes are each fur- 
nished with two white spots; but while in the male 
(fig. 143,4), there is but one large spot on the hind wings, 
ill the female (fig. 143, 5), this spot is invariably more or 
less constricted in the middle, especially above, and is 
often entirely divided into two distinct spots. The body 
of the male has but one distinct transverse band, and a 
longitudinal white dash at its extremity superiorly, while 
that of the female has two white bands. The antennae, 




Fig. 143. — GRAPE LEAF-FOLDER {Desmia maculalis, West.) 
1, Worm ; 2, Head, etc., enlarged ; 3, Chrysalis : 4, Male ; 5, Female. 



as already stated, are still more characteristic, those of 
the male being elbowed and thickened near the middle, 
while those of the female are simple and thread-like. 

There are two broods in this latitude — and probably 
three farther south — during the year; the first moths ap- 
pearing in June, the second in August, and the worms 
produced from these last hibernating in the chrysalis 
state. The eggs are scattered in small patches over the 
vines, and the worms are found of all sizes at the same 
time. These last change to chrysalids in twenty-four to 
thirty days from hatching, and give forth the moths in 
about a week afterwards. 

The worm (fig. 143, 1), folds rather than rolls the leaf, 



OF THE FARM AJS^D GAEDEI^. 



233 



by fastening two portions together by its silken threads; 
and for this reason, in contradistinction to the many leaf- 
rollers, may be popnlarly known as the " Grape Leaf- 
folder." It is of a glass-green color, and very active, 
wriggling, jumping and jerking either way at every touch. 
The head and thoracic segments are marked as at figure 
143, 2. If let alone these worms will soon defoliate a 
vine, and the best method of destroying them is by 
crushing suddenly within the leaf, with both hands. To 
prevent their appearance, however, requires far less 
trouble. The chrysalis is formed within the fold of the 
leaf, and by going over the vineyard in October, or any 
time before the leaves fall, and carefully plucking and 
destroying all those that are folded and crumpled, the 
supply for the following year will be cut olf. This should 
be done collectively to be positively effectual, for the 
utmost vigilance will avail but little if one is surrounded 
with slovenly neighbors. 

We believe this insect shows no preference for any par- 
ticular kind of grape-vine, having found it on all the 
cultivated, as well as the wild varieties. Its natural ene- 
mies are Spiders, Wasj^s, and a small Tachina fly, which 
attacks it in the larva state, and a small clay-yellow 
beetle is supposed to attack it. 

THE COMMON YELLOW BEAR. 
{Spilosoma Virginica, Fabr.) 

This is one of the most common North American in- 
sects. The moth, which is very generally dubbed "the 
Miller," frequently flies into our rooms at night. 

Though the moth is so common, how few persons ever 
think of it as the parent of that frec[uent and most trouble- 
some of caterpillars, which Harris has so aptly termed 
the Yellow Bear. These caterpillars are quite frequently 



234 



INJUEIOUS INSECTS 



found on tlie Grape-vine, and Avlien about one-fourtli 
grown bear a considerable resemblance to the mature 
larva of the Grape-vine Plume. They seldom aj^pear, 
however, until that species has disappeared, and may 
always be distinguished from it by their semi-gregarious 
habit at this time of their life, and by living exposed 
on the leaf (generally the underside) instead of forming 
a retreat within which to hide themselves, as does the 
Plume. 

The Yellow Bear is found of all sizes from^ June to 
October; and though quite fond of the Vine, is by no 
means confined to that plant. It is, in fact, a vejy gen- 
eral feeder, being found on a great variety of herbaceous 
plants, both wild and cultivated, as butternut, lilac, 
beans, peas, convolvulus, corn, currant, gooseberry, cot- 
ton, sunflower, plantain, smart- weed, verbenas, gera- 
niums, and almost any other plant with soft, tender 
leaves. These caterpillars are indeed so indifferent as to 
their diet, that we have actually known one to subsist 
entirely, from the time it cast its last skin till it spun up, 
on dead bodies of the Camel Cricket {Mantis Carolina). 

When young they are invariably bluish-white, but 
w^hen full grown they may be found either of a pale 
cream-color, yellow, light brown, or very dark-brown, 
the different colors often appearing in the same brood of 
worms, as we have proved by experiment. Yellow is the 
most common color, and in all the varieties the venter is 
dark, and there is a characteristic longitudinal black 
line, more or less interrupted, along each side of the 
body, and a transverse line of the same color (sometimes 
faint) between the joints; the head and feet are ochre- 
yellow, and the hairs spring from dark yellow w^arts, of 
which there are ten on each joint, those on joint 1 being 
scarcely distinguishable, and those on joint 12 coalescing. 
There are two broods of these worms each year, the 
broods intermixing, and the last passing the winter in the 



OF THE FARM AND GARDEN. 



235 



chrysalis state. The chrysalis is formed in a trivial 
cocoon, constructed almost entirely of the caterpillar's 
hairs, which, though held in position by a few very 
fine silken threads, are fastened together mainly by 
the interlocking of their minute barbs, and the manner 
in Avhich the caterpillar interweaves them. 

The best time to destroy these worms is soon after 
they hatch from their little round yellow eggs, which 
are deposited in clusters; for, as already intimated, they 
then feed togetlier. 

THE GRAPE-VINE PLUME. 

(Pterophorus periscelidactylus, Fitch.) 

Just about the time that the third bunch of grapes, on 
a given shoot, is developing, many of the leaves, and es- 
pecially those at the extremity of the shoot, are found 
fastened together more or less closely, but generally so as 
to form a hollow ball. These leaves are fastened by a 
fine white silk, and upon opening the mass and separat- 
ing the leaves, one or two caterpillars will generally be 
found in the retreat. We say one or two, because the 
retreat made by the smallest of the Blue-caterpillars 
of the Vine, namely, the larva of the Pearl Wood 
Kymph, so closely resembles that of the Grape-vine 
Plume under consideration, that until the leaves are 
separated it is almost impossible to tell which larva 
will be found. Both occur at the same time of year. 
In an ordinary season they do not draw together the tips 
of the shoots until after the third bunch of grapes is 
formed, and in devouring the terminal bud and leaves, 
they do little more than assist the vineyardist in the 
pruning which he would soon have to give. They act, 
indeed, as Nature's pruning-knives. But the severe 
frost which generally kills the first buds, so retards the 



236 



INJUEIOUS IHSECTS 



growth of the vines that the worms come out in full force 
before the tliird bunch has fully formed, and this bunch 
is consequently included in the fold made by these 
worms, and destroyed. 

The larva of the Gra^^e-vine Plume invariably hatches 
very soon after the leaves begin to expand; and though it 
is yery generally called the Leaf-folder, it must not be 

confounded with the true 
Leaf -folder, described on page 
231, and which does its j^rin- 
cipal damage later in the 
season. At first the larva 
of our Plume is smooth and 
almost destitute of hairs, but 
after each moult the hairs 
become more perce|)tible, and 
when full grown the larva 
appears as at figure 144, a, 
the hairs arising from a trans- 
verse row of warts, each joint 
having four above and six 
below the breathing pores 
(see fig. 144, e). After feed- 
iug for about three weeks our 
little worm fastens itself se- 
Fig. 144.— GRAPE-VINE PLTOiE {Rev- curelv by the hind legs to the 

phoriis 2Jenscelidactylus, Fitch.) . i <! 

a, Larva; &, Pupa; c, Horn; tZ, Moth; underside Of SOUIC Icat Or 

other object, and, casting 
its hairy skin, transforms to the pupa state. The pupa 
(fig. 144, b), Avith the lower part of the three or four 
terminal joints attached to a little silk previously spun 
by the worm, hangs at a slant of about forty degrees. 
It is of peculiar and characteristic form, being ridged 
and angular, with numerous projections, and having 
remnants of the larval warts; it is obliquely truncated 
at the head, but is chiefly distinguished by two com- 




OF THE FAEM Al^D GAEDEN". 



237 



pressed sharp-pointed horns, one of which is enlarged 
at figure 144, c, projecting from the middle of the 
hack: it measures, on an average, rather more than one- 
third of an inch, and varies in color from light green with 
darker green shadings, to pale straw-color with light- 
hrown shadings. 

The moth (fig. 144, d), escapes from this pupa in about 
one week, and, like all the species belonging to the genus, 
it has a very active and impetuous flight, and rests with 
the wrings closed and stretched at right angles from the 
body, so as to recall the letter T. It is of a tawny yellow 
color, the front wings marked with white and dark 
brown as in the figure, the hind wings appearing like 
burnished copper, and the legs being alternately banded 
with white and tawny yellow. 

All the moths of the family (Alucitidce) to which it 
belongs have the wings split up into narrow feather-like 
lobes, and for this reason they have very appropriately 
been called Plumes in popular language. In the genus 
Ptero2)]iorus the front wings are divided into two, and 
the hind wings into three lobes. In this country, a some- 
what larger species (P. carduidactyliis, Riley) occurs on 
the Thistle, and though bearing a close resemblance to 
the Grape-vine Plume in color and markings, yet differs 
very remarkably in the larva and pupa states. 

From analogy we infer that there are two broods of 
these worms each year, and that the last brood passes 
the winter in the moth state. We have, however, never 
noticed any second appearance of them, and whether this 
is from the fact that the vines are covered with a denser 
foliage in the summer than in the spring, or whether 
there is really but one brood, are points in the history of 
our little Plume which yet have to be settled by further 
observation. 

On account of its spinning habit this insect is easily 
kept in check by hand picking. 



238 



INJURIOUS IlNfSECTS 



THE GRAPE-BERRY MOTH. 
(Penthina vitivorana, Packard.) 

The Grape-berry Moth is an illustration of the well- 
known fact that an insect may suddenly appear in many 
different parts of the country where it had not been 
known before, for previous to 1878 no account of it had 
been published, and it was entirely unknown to science. 
It had however been noticed m several localities in Ohio, 
Illinois, and Missouri, for three or four years, but never 
so abundant as in 1878. In that year it was common in 
Missouri, in Illinois, and ruined about fifty per cent, of 
the grapes around Cleveland, Ohio. It has also appeared 
in Pennsylvania, and may appear at any time where 
grapes are grown. 

Its natural history may be given as follows: About the 
1st of July, the grapes that are attacked by the worms 
begin to show a discolored spot at the point where the 
worm entered, (fig. 145, c). Upon opening such a grape, 
the inmate, which is at this time very small and white, 
with a cinnamon-colored head, will be found at the end 
of a winding channel. It continues to feed on the pulp 
of the fruit, and upon reaching the seeds, generally eats 
out their interior. As it matures it becomes darker, be- 
ing either of an olive-green or dark-brown color, with a 
honey-yellow head, and if one grape is not sufficient, it 
fastens the already ruined grape to an adjoining one, by 
means of silken threads, and proceeds to burrow in it as 
it did in the first. When full grown it presents the ap- 
pearance of figure 145, J, and is exceedingly active. As 
soon as the grape is touched the worm will wriggle out 
of it, and rapidly let itself to the ground, by means of 
its ever-ready silken thread, unless care be taken to pre- 
vent its so doing. The cocoon is often formed on the 



OF THE FARM AN"D GAEDEK. 



239 



leaves of the yine, in a manner essentially characteristic, 
xlfter covering a given spot with silk, the worm cuts out 
a clean oval flap, leaving it hinged on one side, and, 
rolling this flap over, fastens it to the leaf, and thus 
forms for itself a cozy little house. One of these cocoons 
is represented at figure 146, d, and though the cut is some- 
times less regular than shown in the figure, it is undoubt- 
edly the normal habit of the insect to make just such a 
cocoon as represented. Sometimes, however, it cuts two 
crescent-shaped slits, and, rolling up the two pieces, fast- 
ens them up in the middle as shown at figure 147. And 
frequeutly it rolls over a piece of the edge- of the leaf, in 
the manner commonly adopted by leaf -rolling larvaB, 




Fig. 145. — GRAPE BERRT-MOTH (PentMna vitivomna, Packard.) 
a. Moth ; b, Larva ; c, Punctured Berry : d, Shrunken Berry. 



while we have had them spin up in a silk handkerchief, 
where they made no cut at all. 

In two days after completing the cocoon, the worm 
changes to a chrysalis. In this state (fig. 146, a), it meas- 
ures about one-fifth of an inch, and is quite variable in 
color, being generally of a honey-yellow, with a green 
shade on the abdomen. In about ten days after this 
last change takes place, the chrysalis works itself almost 
entirely out of the cocoon, and the little moth repre- 
sented at figure 145, a, makes its escape. 



240 



INJURIOUS IKSECTS. 



CDI 



Fig. 146. 

GRAPE BERKT-MOTH. 
OF, Pupa ; b, Chrysalis. 



The first mot lis ap|)ear in Southern Illinois and Central 
Missouri about the 1st of August, and as the worms are 
found in the grapes during the months of August and 
September, or even later, and as Mr. Read has kept the 
cocoons through the greater part of the winter, there is 
every reason to believe that a second 
brood of worms is generated from 
these moths, and that the second 
brood of worms, as is the case of the 
Codling-moth of the apple, passes 
the winter in the cocoon, and pro- 
duces the moth the following spring, 
in time to lay the eggs on the 
gi'apes while they are forming. 
Tliis worm is found in greatest numbers on such grapes 
as the Herbemont, or those varieties which have tender 
skins, and close, compact bunches; though it has also 
been known to occur on almost every variety grown. As 
already stated, there can be little doubt but that the greater 
part of the second brood of worms passes the winter in 
the cocoon on the fallen leaves; and, in such an event, 
many of them may be destroyed by raking up and burn- 
ing the leaves at any time during the winter. The ber- 
ries attacked by the worm may easily 
be detected, providing there is no 
" grape rot " in the vineyard, either by 
a discolored spot as shown at figure 145, 
c, or by the entire discoloration and 
shriuking of the berry, as is shown at 
figure 145, cl When the vineyard is attacked by the 
^^rot," the wormy berries are not so easily distinguished, 
as they bear a close resemblance to the rotting ones. All 
fallen 1)erries should be picked up and destroyed. 




Fio-. 147.— CHTSALIS. 



OF THE FARM AI^D GARDENS". 



241 



THE GEAPE-VINE FLEA-BEETLE. 
{Graptodera [formerly Haltica] chalybea, Illig.) 

Of the nnmerons insect enemies with which onr grape- 
growers have t(3 deal, this occupies a prominent j^lace. 

The beetles which have hibernated begin their destruc- 
tive work in the spring as soon as the buds commence to 
swell, and it is at this early period that the greatest dam- 




Fig. 148.— GRAPE-VESTE FLEA-BEETLE (Graptoclera chahjbea, Illig.) 
a, Young Larvae on Leaf ; b. Larva, enlarged ; c, Chrysalis ; cl, Beetle. 

age is done by the beetles boring into and feeding on said 
buds. Later in the season the beetles feed upon the 
leaves, and upon these, in the month of May, the female 
lays her small orange-colored eggs in clusters. These 
soon hatch, and the young dark-colored larvae riddle the 
leaf as shown in figure 148, a, or when very numerous 
completely devouring it, leaving only the largest ribs. 
11 



242 



INJURIOUS IJq-SECTS 



In about a mouth the full-grown larvae (fig. 1 48, h), de- 
scend into the ground, where each forms a small earthen 
cell (fig. 148, c), and changes to a dull-yellowish pupa of 
the shape normally assumed in this family. The perfect 
beetle issues about three weeks later, from the middle of 
June to the middle of J uly, and again begins to eat the 
leaves, but the damage done is trifiing compared with 
that done in early spring. So far as we have observed 
there is but one annual generation, but it is probable 
that in the more Southern States there will be two. As 
soon as cold weather approaches the beetles retire under 
fallen leaves in the ground, at the base of trees, under 
loose bark, in houses, in short, in any place which offers 
shelter from the cold. 

In considering the best means of preventing the injuries 
of this insect, it must be borne in mind, that, according 
to our observations, the female beetle deposits her eggs 
by preference on the leaves of the wild grape vines, as 
the larvae are rarely met with in cultivated vineyards. 
It is against the perfect beetle, therfore, that we must 
direct our efforts at destruction, and while it is undoubt- 
edly desirable to keep the vineyard clear of rubbish in 
winter time, by burning wherever fire can be used safely, 
this means of destruction loses much of its importance 
by the fact that the beetles hibernate in the woods and 
in any number of other places where they cannot be de- 
stroyed by fire. Dry lime and hellebore, which may be 
used to advantage against the larvae, have proved useless 
against the beetle, while lye and soapsuds cannot be used 
strong enough to kill it without injurious effects upon the 
plant. Tin pans or pails with some liquid at the bottom 
have been used to advantage for collecting the early bee- 
tles, which could be knocked into them, and we have re- 
peatedly advised for this and other insects that infest the 
grape-vine, which fall to the ground upon disturbance, the 
use of sheets along the trellis to catch them. Unless re- 



] 



OF THE FARM AKD GAEDEl^. 243 

peatedly shaken from such sheets into vessels containing 
liquid, the beetles will of course soon escape. 

The wonderful efficacy of kerosene in destroying insect 
life has long been known. It was used with excellent ef- 
fect in shallow tin pans, or on stretched sheets of cloth, 
for the destructiye locust of the West. 

Mr. I. 0. Howard, Assistant Entomologist to the De- 
partment of Agriculture, employed it successfully on 
sheets against the Grape-vine Flea-beetle, finding it so 
satisfactory that he did not hesitate to recommend it in 
the following terms : 

^^Take two pieces of common cotton sheeting, each 
being two yards long and half as wide; fasten sticks across 
the ends of each piece to keep the cloth open, and then 
di'ench with kerosene. Give the sheets thus prepared to 
two persons, each haying hold of the rods at the opposite 
ends of the sheets. Then let these persons pass one sheet 
on either side of the vine, being careful to unite the cloth 
around the base of the vine; then let a third person give 
the stake to which tlie vine is attached a sharp blow with 
a heavy stick. Such a blow will in nearly every case jar 
the beetles into the sheets, where the kerosene kills them 
almost instantly. 

This process, after a little experience, can be per- 
formed almost as rapidly as the persons employed can 
walk from one vine to another. The expense necessary 
is very trifling, and boys can do the work quite as well 
as men. Warm bright afternoons are the proper times 
for this work to be done, and it should be performed 
faithfully every sunny day until the vines are out of dan- 
ger." 

Until something is discovered, which, blown or 
syringed on the buds, will keep off the beetles, this 
method of Mr. Howard's of dealing with the insect, will 
remain the best yet known. 



I 



2U 



I>^JUEIOUS INSECTS 



The spotted pelidnota. 



{PeUdnot a punctata, Linnaeus.) 



This is the largest and most conspicuous beetle that 
attacks the foliage of the Grape-vine, and in the beetle 
state it seems to subsist entirely on the leaves of this 
plant, and of the closely allied V'irginia Creeper. Though 
some years it becomes so abundant as to badly riddle the 
foliage of our vineyards, yet such instances are excep- 
tional, and it usually occurs in such small numbers, and 



& 

Fig. 149.— THE SPOTTED PELIDNOTA {PeVidmta pumtota, lAixji.) 
a. Grub ; ft, Pupa ; c, Beetle ; d, Markings. 

is so large and clumsy, that it can not be considered a 
very redoubtable enemy. 

Its larva has, for a number of years, been known to 
feed on the decaying roots of different trees. It is a 
large clumsy grub (fig. 149, «), bearing a close resemblance 
to the comman White Grub of our meadows, and differs 
from that species principally in being less wrinkled, and 
in having the chitinous covering (or skin, so-called) more 




OF THE FARM AND GARDEN. 245 

polished and of a purer wliite color, and in the distinct 
heart-shaped swelling above the vent (fig. 149, d). To- 
wards the latter part of June we have found this larva 
in abundance, in company with the pupa (fig. 149, b), in 
rotten stumps and roots of the Pear. In preparing for 
the pupa state, the larva forms a rather unsubstantial 
cocoon of its own excrement, mixed with the surround- 
ing wood. The pupa state lasts but from eight to ten 
days, and the beetle (fig. 149, c), is found on our vines 
during the months of July, August, and September. It 
is not yet known how long a time is required for the de- 
velopment of the larva, but from analogy we may infer 
that the insect lives in that state upwards of three years. 

This beetle was named about a century ago by Linnaeus, 
who met with a specimen in the magnificent collection 
of shells and insects belonging to Queen Louise Ulrica of 
Sweden. It occurs throughout the States and Upper 
Canada, and is even met with in the West Indies. It 
flies and feeds by day. The wing-covers are of a slightly 
metallic clay-yellow color, with three distinct black spots 
on each, and the wings themselves are dark-brown inclin- 
ing to black; the thorax is usually a little darker than 
the wing-covers, with one spot each side; the abdomen 
beneath, and legs, are of a bronzed-green. It is easily 
kept in check by hand-picking. 

THE ROSE-BUG, OR ROSE-CHAFER. 

{Macrodactylus subspinosiis, Fabr.) 

This insect does its injurious work in the beetle state. 
The larva develops under ground. The following ac- 
count is condensed from the standard work of Harris. 
In arranging insects according to the plants to which 
they are injurious, it is difficult to decide where to place 
this; if Ave take into account the pecuniary loss it causes, 



246 



Il^JURIOUS INSECTS 



perhaps the grape-grower is the greatest sufferer, and it 
is accordingly placed among the insects especially injuri- 
ous to the Grape: 

^^The prevalence of this insect on the Rose, and its 
annual appearance coinciding with the blossoming of 
that flower, have gained for it the popular name by whicli 
it is here known. For some time after they were first 
noticed, Rose-bugs appeared to be confined to their fa- 
vorite, the blossoms of the Rose; but within forty years 
they have greatly increased in number, have attack- 
ed at random various kinds of plants in swarms, and 
have become notorious for their extensive and deplorable 
ravages. The Grape-vine, in particular, the Cherry, 
Plum, and Apple trees, have annually suffered by their 
depredations; many other fruit trees and shrubs, garden 
vegetables and corn, and even the trees of the forest, 
and grass of the fields, have been laid under contribu- 
tion by these indiscriminate feeders, by whom leaves, 
flowers, and fruits, are alike consumed. The unexpected 
arrival of these insects in swarms at the first coming, 
and their sadden disappearance at the close of their 
career, are remarkable facts in their history. They come 
forth from the ground during the second week in June, 
or about the time of the blossoming of the Damask 
Rose, and remain from thirty to forty days. At the end 
of this period the males perish, while the females enter 
the earth, lay their eggs, return to the surface, and, 
after lingering a few days, die also. 

'^The eggs laid by each female are about thirty in 
number, and are deposited from one to four inches be- 
neath the surface of the soil; they are nearly globular, 
whitish, and are one-thirtieth of an inch in diameter, 
and are hatched twenty days after they are laid. The 
young larvae begin to feed on such tender roots as are 
within their reach. They attain their full size in au- 
tumn, being then nearly three-quarters of an inch long. 



OF THE FARM AND GARDElf. 



247 



and about an eighth of an inch in diameter. In October 
they descend below the reach of frost, and pass the win- 
ter in a torpid state. In the spring they approach to- 
ward the surface, and each one forms for itself a little 
cell, of an oval shape. Within this cell the grub is trans- 
formed to a pupa during the month of May. During 
the month of June, the included beetle bursts open its 
earthen cell, and digs its way to the surface 
of the ground. Thus the various changes, from 
the egg to the full development of the perfected 
beetle, are completed within the space of one 
year." 

The beetle is given of its real size, about 
seven-twentieths of an inch in length, in figure rose-bug. 
150; its body is entirely covered with a very 
short and close ashen-yellow down; its legs are of a pale- 
red color, while the joints of the very long feet are 
tipped with black. 

Remedies. — Such being the metamorphoses and habits 
of the Rose-bugs, it is evident we cannot attack them in 
the egg, the grub, or the pupa state. When they have 
issued from their subterranean retreats, and have con- 
gregated upon our vines, trees, and other vegetable pro- 
ductions, in the complete enjoyment of their propensi- 
ties, we must unite our efforts to seize and crush the 
invaders. They must indeed be crushed, scalded, or 
burned, to deprive them of life, for they are not affected 
by any of the aj^plications usually found destructive to 
other insects. Experience has proved the utility of 
gathering them by hand, or of shaking them or brush- 
ing them from the plants into tin vessels containing a 
little water. They should be collected daily, especially 
in early morning, when they are torpid, and burned or 
scalded. If a film of kerosene is floated upon the water 
in the vessels in which they are caught, it will help to 
prevent their escape. 




24:8 



IIn^JUEIOUS mSECTS 



THE GRAPE PHYLLOXERA. 

{Phylloxera vastatrix, Planchon.) 

This minute insect, which has caused such devasta- 
tions in the vineyards of Europe, is a native of this 
country, where its destructive work Avas known long be- 
fore the cause of it was discovered. The life history 
of the Phylloxera has been worked out by Prof. 
Riley in his Missouri Re23orts, especially in the Sixth, 
from which the following account is condensed. 

The insect presents itself under several different forms, 
all of which belong to two types. One of these is the 
Leaf -gall type [galUcola, R.), and the other is found 
upon the roots of the vine {radicicola, R.). 

FiKST, AS TO THE Leaf-gall Type (GalUcola.) — 
The gall or excrescence produced by this is a fleshy 
swelling of the under side of the 
leaf, more or less wrinkled and 
hairy, with a corresponding depres- 
sion of the upper side, the margin 
of the cup being fuzzy, and 
^ . Z]^' o 1. drawn too-ether so as to form a 

a and 6. Elongated Galls : c 

and d^up^er^and imd^^^^^ fi'ii^ged moufch. It is usually cup- 
shapecl, but some times greatly 
elongated or purse-shaped (figure 151, a, d). 

Soon after the first vine-leaves that put out in the 
spring have fully expauded, a few scattering galls may be 
found, mostly on the lower leaves, nearest the ground. 
These vernal galls are usually large (of the size of an 
ordinary pea,) and the normal green is often blushed 
with rose where exposed to the light of the sun. On 
carefully opening one of them (fig. 152, cl), we shall find 
the mother-louse diligently at work surrounding herself 
with pale-yellow eggs of an elongate oval form, scarcely 
, 01-inch long, and not quite half as thick (fig. 152, 




OP THE FARM AIS^D GAEDEIS". 249 

c). She is about .Oi-inch long, generally spherical 
in shape, of a dull-orange color, and looks not unlike 
an immature seed of the common purslane. At times, 
by the elongation of the abdomen, she is more or 
less perfectly pear-shaped. Her members are all dusky, 
aud so short, com2)ared to her swollen body, that she ap- 
pears very clumsy, and undoubtedly would be outside of 
her gall, which she neyer has occasion to quit, and which 




Fig. 152. — GRAPE PHTLLOXEEA — LEAF-GALL TYPE, 
a, b, Newly-hatctied Larva, ventral and doryal view ; c. Eg:? ; rf, Section of Gall, 
Swelling of Tendril ;/, g. //. Mother Gall-louse— lateral, dorsal and ventral 
views; i, her Antenna; j, her two-jointed Tarsus. Natural sizes 
indicated at sides by small circles. 

serves her alike as dwelling house and coffin. More care- 
fully examined, her skin is seen to be shagreened or mi- 
nutely granulated and furnished with rows of minute 
hairs. The eggs begin to hatch, when six or eight days 
old, into active little oval, six-footed beings, which differ 
from their mother in> their brighter yellow color and more 
perfect legs and antennaB, the tarsi being furnished with 
long, pliant hairs, terminating in a more or less distinct 
globule. In hatching, the egg splits longitudinally from 
the anterior end, and the young louse, whose pale-yellow 



250 



INJUKIOUS IKSECTS 



is in strong contrast with the more dusky color of the 
egg-shell, escapes in the course of two minutes. Issuing 
from the mouth of the gall, these young lice scatter over 
the yine, most of them finding their w^ay to the tender 
terminal leayes, where they settle in the dowmy bed which 
these leaves affords, and commence pumping up and ap- 
propriating the sap. The tongue-sheath is blunt and 
heavy, but the tongue proper — consisting of three brown, 
elastic, and wiry filaments, which, united, make so fine 
a thread as scarcely to be visible with the strongest mi- 
croscope — is sharp, and easily run into the leaf. Its 
puncture causes a curious change in the tissues of the 
leaf, the growth being so stimulated that the under side 
bulges and thickens, while the down on the upper side 
increases in a circle around the louse, and finally hides 
and covers it as it recedes more and more within the 
deepening cavity. Sometimes the lice are so crowded 
that two occupy the same gall. If, from the premature 
death of the louse, or other cause, the gall becomes abor- 
tive before being completed, then the circle of thickened 
down or fuzz enlarges with the expansion of the leaf, and 
remains (fig. 151, c), to tell the tale of the futile effort. 
Otherwise, in a few days the gall is formed, and the 
in held louse, which, wdiile eating its way into house and 
home, was also growing apace, begins a parthenogenetic 
maternity by the deposition of fertile eggs, as her imme- 
diate parent had done before. She increases in bulk 
with pregnancy, and one egg follows another in quick 
succession, until the gall is crowded. The mother dies 
and shrivels, and the young, as they hatch, issue and 
found new galls. This process coutiuues during the 
summer until the fifth or sixth generation. Every egg 
brings forth a fertile female, which soon becomes wonder- 
fully prolific. The number of eggs found in a single gall 
averages about two hundred; yet it will sometimes reach 
as many as five hundred. Even supposing there are but 



OP THE FAKM AHD GARDEN. 



251 



five generations during tlie year, and taking the lowest 
of the above figures, the immense prolificacy of the spe- 
cies becomes manifest. As summer advances, they fre- 
quently become prodigiously multiplied, completely cov- 
ering the leaves with their galls, when they appear as 
in figure 153. The lice also settle on the tendrils, 
leaf -stalks, and tender branches, where they also form 
Imots and rounded excrescences (figure 152, e), much 
resembling those made on the roots. In such a case, the 
vine loses its leaves prematurely. Usually, however, the 




Fig. 153. — LEAF OF THE GKAPE-VINE WITH PHYLLOXERA GALL. 

natural enemies of the louse seriously reduce its numbers 
by the time the vine ceases its growth in the fall, and 
the few remaining lice, finding no more succulent and 
suitable leaves, seek the roots. Thus, by the end of 
September, the galls are mostly deserted, and those which 
are left are almost always infested with mildew, and 
eventually turn brown and decay. On the roots, the 
young lice attach themselves singly or in little groups, 
and thus hibernate. The male gall-louse has never been 



252 



INJURIOUS IXSECTS 



seen, and there is every reason to believe that he has no 
existence. Xor does the female ever acqui]-e vrings. It 
is but a transient sumraer state, not at all essential to 
the perpetuation of the species, and does, compared with 
the other type, but trifling damage. 

As already indicated, the antnmnal individuals of gal- 
licola descend to the roots, and there hibernate. Tliere 
is every reason to believe also that, throughotit the sum= 




Fig. 15i.— GEM'S PHYLLOXERA, ROOT-IKHABITLNG TYPE. 

a. Roots of Clinton vine, showing relation of Swellings ro Leaf-galls, and power of 
resisting decomposition ; Larva as it appears when hibernating; c, d, 
Antenna and Leg of same ; e. -f. o. Forms of more mature Lice ; 
7i, Granulations of Skin ; i, Tubercle. 

mer, some of the yonng lice hatched in the galls are 
passing on to the roots; as, considering their size, they 
are great travellers, and show a strong disposition to 
dro23, their natural lightness enabling them thus to 
reach the earth with ease and safety. At all events, we 
know^ from experiment, that the young gfllicfAa, if con- 
fined to vines on which they do not normally form galls, 
will, in the middle of summer, make themselves perfectly 
at home on the roots. 



OF THE FARM AND GAEDEl^. 



253 



The Eoot-ikhabitii^g Type {Radicicola). — We liaye 
seen that, in all probability, gallicola exists odIj in the 
wingless, shagreened, non-tubercled, fecund female 
form. Eadicicola^ howexev, presents itself in two prin- 
cipal forms. The newly hatched larya3 of this type are 
undistinguishable, in all essential characters, from those 
hatched in the galls; but in due time they shed the 
smooth larval skin, and acquire raised warts or tubercles 
which at once distinguish them from gallicola. In the 
deyelopment from this point the two forms are separable 
with sufficient ease: one (a) of a more dingy greenish- 
yellow, with more swollen fore-body, and more tapering 
abdomen; the other (e) of a brighter yellow, with the 
lateral outline more perfectly oyal, and with the abdomen 
more truncated at tip. 

The first or mother form (fig. 154, /, (/), is the ana- 
logue of gallicola, as it neyer acquires wdngs, and is oc- 
cupied, from adolescence till death, with the laying of 
eggs, which are less numerous and somewhat larger than 
those found in the galls. We haye counted in the spring 
as many as two hundred and sixty-fiye eggs in a cluster, 
and all eyidently from one mother, who was yet yery 
plump, and still occupied in laying. As a rule, howeyer, 
they are less numerous. With pregnancy this form be- 
comes quite tumid and more or less pyriform, and is con- 
tent to remain with scarcely any motion in the more 
secluded parts of the roots, such as creases, sutures, and 
depressions, which the knots afford. The skin is dis- 
tinctly shagrcened (fig. 154, h,) as in gallicola. The 
warts, though usually quite yisible with a good lens, are 
at other times more or less obsolete, especially on the ab- 
domen. 

The second or more oyal form (fig. 154, e), is destined 
to become winged. Its tubercles, when once acquired, 
are always conspicuous; it is more actiye than the other, 
and its eyes increase rather than diminish in complexity 



254 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



with age. From the time it is one-third grown, the 
little dusky wing-pads may be discovered, though less 
conspicuous than in the pupa state, which is soon after 




¥ig. 155. — GRAPE PHYLLOXERA, ROOT-INHABITING TYPE. 

a, Shows a healthy root ; b, one on which the lice are working, representing the 
knots and swellings caused by their punctures ; c, a Root that has been de- 
serted by them, and where the rootlets have commenced to decay ; 
d, d, d, show how the lice are found on the larger roots ; e, fe- 
male pupa, dorsal view ; /, same, rentral view ; g, winged 
female, dorsal view; h, same, ventral view. 

assumed. The pup^ (fig. 155, e, f), are still more active, 
and, after feeding a short time, they make their way to 
the light of day, crawl over the ground and over the 
vines, and finally shed their last skin and assume the 



OF THE FAKM AXD GAKDEX, 



255 



•winged state, which is shown in figure 155, g and h. 
In this last moult the tubercled skin splits on the back, 
and is soon worked off, the body in the winged insect 
haying neither tubercles nor granulations. 

These winged insects are most abundant in August 
and September, but may be found as early as the first of 
July, and until the yines cease growing in the fall. The 
majority of them are females, with the abdomen large, 
and more or less elongate. From two to fiye eggs may 
inyariably be found in the abdomen of these, and are 
easily seen when the insect is held between the light, or 
mounted in balsam or glycerine. A certain proportion 
have an entirely different shaped and smaller body, the 
abdomen being short, contracted, and terminating in a 
fleshy and dusky protuberance; the limbs stouter, and 
the wings proportionately larger and stouter. 

This form has been looked upon as the male by myself, 
Planchon, Lichtenstein and others. Yet we haye neyer 
succeeded in witnessing it performing the functions of a 
male, nor has any one else that we are aware of. The 
males in all plant-lice are quite rare, and, in the great 
majority of species, unknown. 

As fall adyances the winged indiyiduals become more 
and more scarce, and as winter sets in, only eggs, newly- 
hatched laryae, and a few wing-less, egg-bearing mothers 
are seen. These last die and disappear during the winter, 
which is mostly passed in the larya state, with here and 
there a few eggs. The laryag thus hibernating (fig. 154, 
h), become dingy, with the body and limbs more 
shagreened and the claws less perfect than when first 
hatched; and, of thousands examined, all bear the same 
appearance, and all are furnished with strong suckers. 
As soon as the gi'ound thaws and the sap starts in the 
spring, these young lice work off their winter coat, and, 
growing apace, commence to deposit eggs. 

At this season of the year, with the exuberant juices of 



256 



IKJUmOUS lifSECTS 



the plant, the swelhugs on the roots are large and succu- 
lent, and the lice plum]) to repletion. One generation of 
the mother form (a) follows another — fertility increasing 
with the increasing heat and luxuriance of summer — 
until at least the third or fourth has been reached before 
the winged form (b) makes its appearance in the latter 
part of June or early in J uly. 

Since (in 1870) the absolute identity of these two types 
was proved, by showing that the gall-lice become root- 
lice, the fact has been repeatedly substantiated by dif- 
ferent observers. (In 1873 galls were obtained on^the 
leaves of a Clinton vine from the root-inhabiting type, 
thus establishing the identity of the two types). 

The more manifest and external effects of 
THE Phylloxera Disease.— The result which follows 
the puncture of the root-louse is an abnormal swelling, 
differing in form according to the particular part and 
texture of the root. These swellings, which are generally 
commenced at the tip of the rootlets, eventually rot, and 
the lice forsake them and betake themselves to fresh ones 
— the living tissue being necessary to the existence of this 
as of all plant-lice. The decay affects the parts adjacent 
to the swelliogs, and on the more fibrous roots cuts off 
the supply of sap to all parts beyond. As these last de- 
compose, the lice congregate on the larger ones, until at 
last the root system literally wastes away. The appear- 
ance of the root fibres before and after they have been 
attacked by the insect, is shown in figure 155, a, h, c. 

During the first year of the attack there are scarcely 
any outward manifestations of disease, though the fibrous 
roots, if examined, will be found covered with nodosities, 
particularly in the latter part of the growing season. 
The disease is then in its incipient stage. The second 
year all these fibrous roots vanish, and the lice not only 
prevent the formation of new one?, but, as just stated, 
settle on the larger roots, which they injure, and which 



OE THE FARM AND GARDEI^. 



257 



become disorganized and rot. At this stage the out- 
ward symjitoms of the disease first become manifest, in a 
sickly, yellowish appearance of the leaf and a reduced 
growth of cane. As the roots continue to decay, these 
symptoms become more acute, until by about the third 
year the yine dies. Such is the course of the malady on 
the European vine ( V. vinifera), when circumstances are 
favorable to the increase of the pest. When the yine is 
about dying it is generally impossible to discoyer the 
cause of the death, the lice, which had been so numerous 
the first and second years of invasion, haying left for 
fresh pasturage. 

Mode of Spreadij^g. — The gall-lice can only spread 
by trayelling, when newly hatched, from one yine to 
another; and if this slow mode of progression were the 
only one which the species is capable of, the disease 
would be comparatiyely harmless. The root-lice, how- 
ever, not only trayel under ground along the interlock- 
ing roots of adjacent yines, but crawl actiyely oyer the 
surface of the ground, or wing their way from yine to 
yine, and from yineyard to yineyard. Doubts haye been 
repeatedly expressed by European writers as to the power 
of such a delicate and frail-winged fly to trayerse the air 
to any great distance. 

But there is abundant eyidence as to their power of 
flight; they haye been caught in spider-webs in Europe, 
and hav^e been captured on sheets of paper prepared with 
bird-lime, and suspended in an infested yineyard, and 
there is no doubt that they can sustain flight for a con- 
siderable time under fayorable conditions, and, with the 
assistance of the wind, they may be wafted to great dis- 
tances. These winged females are much more numerous 
in the fall of the year than has been supposed. Where- 
eyer they settle, the few eggs which each carries are suf- 
ficient to perpetuate the species, and thus spread the dis- 
ease, which, in the fullest sense, may be called contagious. 



258 



I^^JUFJOUS INSECTS. 



SrSCEPTIBILITT OF DIFFEEZXT TrS"E5 TO THE DIS- 
EASE. — As a means of cojiing with, the Phylloxera dis- 
ease, a knowledge of the relative snsceptibility of different 
Yai'ieties to the attacks and injuries of the insect is of 
paramount importance. As is often the case with, injurious 
insects, tlie Phylloxera shows a jn-ef erence for and thrives 
best on certain species, and even discriminates between 
varieties; or, what amotmts to the same thing, practi- 
cally, some vai'ieties resist its attacks, and enjoy a rela- 
tive immunity from its injuries. It may be stated that 
there is a relation l^etween the stisceptibility of the vine 
and the character of its roots — the slow-gi'owing, more 
tender-wooded, and consequently more tender-rooted 
varieties sticcumbing most readily; the more vigorous 
growers resisting best. The Etiropean Tine {Vitis vini- 
fera). in its many varieties, is little aifected by the leaf- 
inhabiting t^-j^e. but it succttmbs in a few years to the 
root-lice. A'arieties of the Xorthem Fox-grape ( T. La- 
hrusca) vary much: some, like the Concord and others, 
resist well, while others, like the Catawba, suffer severe- 
ly. Varieties derived from Y. cpstivalis and F, cordifo- 
lia are nearly exempt from the root-form, btit some of 
them have the leaves much attacked by the gall-type. 
The Southern Pox-grape [V. vul^jina) is entirely free 
from Phylloxera in any form. 

PiE^rEDizs AXD Peevextives. — Thus far, the only 
practicable method of combating the insect when estab- 
lished upon the root, is by drowning it by irrigating the 
soil. In Europe, the method largely adopted is to graft 
their vines upon varieties, the roots of which are Phyl- 
loxera proof : for this purpose American varieties have 
been sent to Europe in immense numbers, as cuttings 
and as rooted plants. An enterprising grape-growing 
firm has even established nurseries in Euroj^e for the pro- 
duction of vines that resist the Phylloxera. 



OF THE FAKil a:S"D GARDEN. 



259 



THE GRAPE LEAF-HOPPER. 

{Tettigonia vitis, Harris. ) 

In many parts of the country, if one passes through a 
yineyard during July or August, he will be annoyed by the 
clouds of a small insect which, as it flies, appears as if it 
were of a dirty white color. These insects are generally 
known as ^' Thrips," a name belonging to a different 
genus, and which should be superseded by Leaf-hopper. 
The insect belongs to the Order Hemiptera, or true Bugs. 
It is the Tettigonia vitis of Harris (though some authors 
place it in Erythroneura), who thus describes it: " In its 
perfect state it measures one-tenth of inch 
in length. It is of a pale-yellow color ; 
there are two little red lines on the 
head. The back part of the thorax, 
the scutel, the base of the wing-covers, 
and a broad band across their middle 
are scarlet; the tips of the wing-covers 
Fig. 156.— GKAPE are blackish, and there are some little 
LEAP-HOPPER. lines between the broad band and 

the tips. The head is crescent-shaped above, and the 
eyelets are situated just below the ridge of the front." 
The insects appear upon the underside of the leaves 
in June, but are not much noticed, as they do not 
have their wings until later. They pass their larvae state 
quietly, sucking at the juices of the leaves, which they 
penetrate with their beaks, though if disturbed at this 
time, they leap from leaf to leaf in a lively manner. 
They undergo all their changes on the leaves, and their 
empty skins may be found on the underside of the leaves, 
or upon the ground beneath the vine, in great numbers. 
The insect probably hibernates in the perfect state, hid- 
den in the rubbish and in tufts of grass. When present 
in great numbers, they rob the vine of its proper nutri- 




260 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



ment, and induce a weakly condition which results in 
poorly developed fruit. They attack the thin-leaved va- 
rieties in preference to those with more robust foliage, 
such as the Concord, and vines of that class. Occasion- 
ally they cause much annoyance by attacking the exotic 
vine under glass. The Leaf-hopper seems to be more 
abundant at the East than at the West, and in some sea- 
sons is very numerous in the vineyards of Western New 
York. It has been suggested to destroy the young insect 
by fumigating with tobacco smoke, using a movable tent 
to cover the trellis and confine the smoke. When the 
insect can fly, it may be destroyed by carrying lighted 
torches through the vine-yard, though at this time most 
of the mischief has been done. 



THE CRANBERRY. 

Several insects are injurious to the Cranberry, but as 
these are treated of in full in the standard works on the 
culture of this fruit, and as they are of interest only to a 
comparatively small number of persons, a brief enumera- 
tion is all that need be given here. The conditions under 
which Cranberry culture only can be successful — the 
ability to flood the plantation with water, and to draw it 
off at will — are those which afford a remedy against 
nearly all of these insects. Flooding at the right time 
will allow the cultivator to destroy the insects that attack 
the vines, as well as those that injure the fruit. 

The Vine-w^orm is the larva of a moth {Anchylopera 
vacciniana) which feeds upon the foliage. In Massachu- 
setts, it hatches about tlie 20tli of May, from eggs which 
have remained on the vine during the winter, and again, 
about the 4:th of July, a second crop appears from eggs 



OF THE PAEAI AXD GAEDEN. 



261 



laid in June. The eggs are a fiat, circular scale, of a 
honey-jellow color, and are deposited on the underside 
of the leaves. 

The Fkuit-woem is also the laiTa of a moth, but a 
distinct and not identified s^Decies. It is of a yellcwish- 
green color, and enters berry after berry, eating the in- 
side of each, and finally goes into the ground to spin its 
cocoon, and change to a chrysalis state; unlike the Vine- 
worm, which spins its cocoon among the leaves at the end 
of the vine, drawing two together for this purpose. 

The leaves are also attacked by the larva of a Saw-fly 
(Prist ipJiom identidem), but this insect is not numerous. 
The Fly makes a slit in the leaves, dej^ositing an egg- 
within. Broods of this species aj^pear in June and 
August. 

The Bud-tvoem, a small reddish-brown beetle [Antlio- 
nomus suturalis), about the middle of Jtily, selects blos- 
soms just before they are ready to expand, and dej^osits 
in them an egg through a hole made in the center of the 
bud. The beetle usually cuts off the bttd after deposit- 
ing its egg. A dull-white grub hatches from the egg, 
and feeds within the bud, changing to a pupa, and then 
to a perfect beetle, and eats its way out, leaving a round 
hole in the side of the bud. The beetles sometimes, 
though seldom, feed upon the berry. The larvte are 
often killed by a minute clialcis fly. 

Some other insects are occasionally injurious: if not 
disastrously so, they serve to weaken the vines and inter- 
fere with their productiveness. Among these is a Leaf- 
hopper [Clastcqjtera jjvoteus, Fitch.) In its larval state, 
it covers itself with froth; the perfect insect jumps with 
the agility of a flea. Also a small Gall-gnat, the maggot 
of which is in some places cjilled the '^Tip-worm," as it 
draws together the small leaves at the tips of the grow- 
ing shoots. 



Insects of the Flower Garden and Green-House. 



Flowering plants, whether in the green-honse or in the 
dwelling, are subject to the attacks of several insects, 
which, nnless they are kept in subjection, soon cause the 
plants to assume an unhealthy appearance. Most of the 
insects that infest the plants when indoors, as a general 
thing, remain upon them when they are placed outside 
during warm weather, and some of them attack hardy 
plants also. 

In green-houses, where water can be freely used to 
shower the plants, and where the house can be filled with 
tobacco smoke as often as may be necessary, there is little 
difficulty in keeping the plants in a healthy condition so 
far as insects are concerned. Those who cultivate win- 
dow plants find it more difficult to keep them free from 
insects by these means. Where syringing is necessary, 
the pots may be set in a bath-tub or sink, or, if it is de- 
sired to wet the underside of the leaves, laid upon the 
side, and water applied by means of a syringe, or by the 
use of a watering-pot with a fine rose; this should be held 
high above the plants in order that the water may fall 
with force against the foliage. All smooth-leaved plants, 
such as Camelhas, Ivy, etc., should have the leaves oc- 
casionally washed on both sides, by the use of a sponge 
or soft cloth; this will not only remove the dust, but be 
of great service in keeping the insects in check. 

House plants may be fumigated by having a large box, 
in which they may be shut up, and the smoke made by 
damp tobacco stems or other cheap form of tobacco upon 
a few live coals placed in an iron vessel or an old flower 
262 



OF THE FARM AKD GARDEK. 



263 



pot. As the use of smoke in the small way is incon- 
venient, and as there is a risk of injuring the plants by 
over-heatiDg, it is better to apply tobacco in the liquid 
form. The cheapest kind of tobacco are the * ^sterns," 
really the mid-ribs of the leaves, removed by the cigar 
makers. Either these or cheap tobacco of any other kind, 
may be placed in any convenient vessel and covered with 
water. The infusion thus made will be too strong to ap- 
ply to the plants, and when used should be diluted with 
water until it is of the color of ordinary tea. The plants 
may be syringed with this, or it may be applied with the 
watering-pot, as suggested for the use of water. The 
most thorough method of using tobacco-water, and on 
the whole the most convenient, is to have it properly di- 
luted in a deep tub or barrel, and to dip the plants in it, 
moving them up and down a few times before removing 
them. If this can be done once a week the plants will 
be kept free from most insects. 

The insects which attack flowering plants in the open 
air only, are chiefly the Rose-bug and the Rose-slug, 
though grasshoppers, when abundant, are sometimes 
troublesome. The Rose-bug by no means confines itself 
to the plant from which it takes its name; it is described 
under the Insects Injurious to the Grape-vine on page 245. 

THE ROSE-SLUG. 

(Selandria rosce, Harris.) 

The main points in the history of this well-known gar- 
den pest are given by Harris in his Insects Injurious to 
Vegetation," etc. It undoubtedly originated in New 
England, probably upon Eosa lucida or R. Uanda, as 
these are the species of wild Rose upon which it prefera- 
bly feeds. Dr. Harris first observed it in the gardens of 
Cambridge, Mass., in 1831, and observes that six or seven 



264 



INJURIOUS I^TSECTS 



years elapsed before it made its appearance in Milton, 
where he then resided. It feeds only at night, except in 
very cloudy weather, and exclusively upon the upper sur- 
face of the leaf, from which it gnaws the soft portion, 
leaving the veins intact. During the day it rests motion- 
less on the underside of the leaf . 

The larval life of this insect extends over a period of 
fourteen days, during which it moults four times. The 
full-grown slug is rather more than one-third of an inch 
in length, by one-ninth in diameter. The thoracic joints 
are somewhat smaller and humped, but not puffed out 
laterally, as in some closely allied species, nor has it, like 
these, a slimy surface. The color is a translucent dull- 
yellow, becoming more opaque at the last moult. Soon 
after this it enters the ground, and incloses itself in a 
fragile, earthen cocoon, within which it remains dormant 
for many months, not changing to pupa until the follow- 
ing spring, Harris's assertion that it is double-brooded 
has long been doubted by careful observers, and is un- 
questionably dis|)roved by Miss Murtfeldt's experiments. 

Owing to the longevity of the flies and the different 
dates at which they emerge, there is a succession of lar- 
v^, covering a period of from four to six weeks; but they 
are all of the same brood, and when once they have 
entered the ground, that is the end of them for the sea- 
son. 

The Eose-slug, like most other insects, has a large 
number of natural enemies, but these are not yet ade- 
quate to the task of keeping it in check. The attention 
of florists has, therefore, been largely directed to the 
discovery of some reliable artificial remedy. 

Various applications have been tried with more or less 
success, among which the most certain in its effects is 
whale-oil soap suds, made in the proportions of one pound 
of soap to eight gallons of water. The objections to this 
remedy are, that it has a disagreeable odor and is liable to 



OF THE FARM AND GARDEN. 



265 



discolor the opening buds. Dusting freely with White 
Hellebore has also been tried with very good success, and 
it may be used in water, as directed for Currant worms, 
p. 20-4. The Pyrethrum powders have as yet been used 
only to a limited extent, but with the prospect that 
throughly applied they would prove effectual. 

PLANT-LICE— APHIDES. 

There are a great many species of plant-lice or aphides. 
Almost every plant is liable to the attacks of some species 
peculiar to itself. They are foiind upon the roots as 
well as upon the stems and leaves, where they insert their 
long tubular beaks and suck the juices of the plants, and 
only change their places when they have exhausted the 
sap in that locality. It would be impossible to even men- 
tion the various species in a work like this, much less to 
give a detailed description of them. Every farmer and 
gardener will know from the curled appearance of the 
leaves of various trees and herbaceous plants the author 
of the mischief. 

Numerous parasites keep these destructive plant-lice 
greatly in check, and it is always well to look closely, be- 
fore making an application to destroy the lice, to see if 
there are not some parasites at work, and if so they will 
often clear the plants much more effectively than any 
remedy we can apply. This I have observed both at the 
North and South, and usually when I have been studying 
other insects. 

In Florida I was studying a large black and red ant 
{Campanotus esurie7is), and was greatly interested in 
their immense droves of dark-colored aphides — the ant's 
cows" as they are often called, that were thickly clustered 
on the underside of the young leaves of an orange tree. 
While watching the ants moving about among the droves, 
I noticed several tiny Ichneumon flies mounting the 
12 



266 



I^TJURIOUS iJfSECTS 



backs of the plant-lice. They were so small as to be 
scarcely visible to the naked eye, but a good lens soon 
heljoed me to see what they were doing. They were busy 
depositing eggs in the ant's cows!" The Ichneumon 
would mount the back of a cow/' when the latter would 
become restive and try to dismount its rider by kicking 
and nearly standing on its head, and this would set the 
others next it to kicking in the same way, until all on 
the leaf seemed to be panic-stricken, and were kicking, 
striking, and throwing themselves about in a most ludi- 
crous manner, all the while holding on by their beaks. 
And it was very amusing to see the excited ants trying 
to find the cause of the panic. But the little Ichneu- 
mons did not seem to be in the least disconcerted and 
did their work most effectually as the sequel proved. 

Not many days after I witnessed the egg-laying, the 
abdomens of the plant-lice were very much distended, and 
they no longer gave any nourishment to the ants, who 
passed around among them as if discouraged. Two ants 
would meet and seem to consult over the matter, then 
they would stroke the ' ' cows " with their antennae, but 
meeting with no response they would pass to another 
leaf, with no better result. At last they tried to remove 
the cows," they would take them gently in their mandi- 
bles, but in many cases the beak was inserted so firmly in 
the leaf or twig they could not remove it. When they 
did succeed in removing one they invariably carried it to 
the nest. 

This was the most complete destruction of plant-lice I 
ever witnessed. I could not find a single living speci- 
men left. In due time a little shining black Ichneumon 
fly — the counterpart of its mother — emerged from a hole 
in the back of each aphis. 

Since my observations were made on this orange aphis 
it has been named by Mr. Ashmead, SiphonopTiora citri- 
foUi, and the little Ichneumon has been named by Mr. 



OP THE TAEM AXD 



Cresson as a species of Trioxys. Aphides, wliereyer they 
occur, are readily destroyed by the nse of tobacco, applied 
as smoke or in infiision as already described. What is 
known to gardeners as the Blue Louse*' is an aphis 
which sometimes attacks the roots of yerbenas, asters, 
and other ilowers in such numbers as to cause their death 
before the source of the trouble is suspected. When 
these tinderground lice attack the roots, a persistent ap- 
plication of tobacco-water will save the plants if it is 
used before the injury has gone too far. 



THE I\IEALY-BUG. 



Genus Dactylopius. 




This insect is a common pest of the green-house both 
in this cotmtry and in Europe, and is often injurious to 
plants in the open air. 
There are several spe- 
cies, all of which are 
more or less covered 
with a quantity of 
floury matter secreted 
through pores scat- 
tered over the body. 
They are often very 
abundant uj)on almost 
every variety of hottse-plant and very destructive. They 
are most frequently found in the crotches of the branches, 
and close down in the axils of the leaves, though they do 
not confine themselves to these places. The engraving, fig- 
ure 157, shows a Mealy-bug. with its powdery covering 
removed and much magnified. One species — D. (le- 
st rudor. Com stock — is one of the worst enemies to the 
orange groves in Florida. 

Professor Comstock. in his Report a? Entomologist of 




/'/ (11 

Fig. 157. — MEALY-BUG 



268 



Il^-JURIOUS INSECTS. 



the Department of Agriculture^ says: "the natural ene- 
mies of tlie Mealy-bug — D. destructor — is a little chalcis 
fly (Encyrtus inquisitor, Howard)/' also ^*a small red 
bug was observed by myself and several of our correspond- 
ents to prey upon the Mealy-bug. The very curious lar- 
vae of a lady-bird beetle, known as Scymnus Uoculatus, 
were found feeding upon the eggs of the Mealy-bug at 
Orange Lake. These larvae mimic the Mealy-bug so 
closely they might easily be taken for them." 

The great difficulty in the way of destroying this insect 
is the floury secretion with which it is covered, most 
washes having little effect upon it. The best remedies, so 
far as I know, are given by Professor Comstock in the 
Keport above mentioned. 

REMEDIES. 

'*^^Sktjff and Sulphur. — Equal parts by bulk of smok- 
ing tobacco and flowers of sulphur were ground together 
in a mortar until thoroughly mixed. This compound 
was perfectly successful when dusted over wet plants; 
and it adhered to the plant for a long time notwithstand- 
ing rain. Still this does not seem to me to be a remedy 
that will admit of successful and economical application 
on a large scale. It may be useful in conservatories, and 
upon ornamental plants." 

A decoction of tobacco is also useful in destroying the 
Mealy-bug. The Mealy-bug upon window plants and 
upon those in green-houses, if taken in time and perse- 
veringiy followed, may be kept in check by a modified 
hand-picking, removing the insects wherever they may 
be found by means of a small stick, such as a sliver of pine 
sharpened to a point. An ^^exterminator" is offered, 
but as its composition is kept secret, ifc can not be intel- 
ligently commended. 



OP THE FAEil AXD GAEDEis. 



269 



THE EOCKY MOUOTAIN LOCUST. 

{Caloptenus spretus, Thomas.) 

Tliough the ravages of this insect are confined to a lim- 
ited area, its destructiveness is so great in the localities it 
visits, that it seems desirable in a work like the present 
to give the leading facts in its history. It is usually 
called the Eocky Mountain Locust, but is sometimes 
known as the ^' Hateful Grasshopper." This insect has 
visited Kansas, Xebraska and other Western States with 
most destructive effect, the recital of which reminds one 
of the accounts of the plagues of Egypt. Few insects 
have had their life history more thoroughly studied, and 
the useful information given by entomologists concerning 
this single insect has more than warranted the cost of the 
various State and General Government Commissions. An 
elaborate account of this insect is given in the Seventh 
Missouri Keport, and another, in the Eeport of the IT. S. 
Entomological Commission for 1880. The following is 
compiled from an account in the American Entomolo- 
gist," by Wm. A. Byers, and from other sources. The 
Eocky Mountain Locust is common in all the western 
or rainless region, one-third of the United States, but 
its breeding place is upon the hot, parched plains and 
table lands, from four to six thousand feet above the 
sea. The greater the heat, the more they flourish. 
Though they endure considerable cold and live, they are 
at the same time exceedingly sensitive to its effects; be- 
coming torpid in frosty nights or in snow storms, and 
reviving to active life in the succeeding sunshine. The 
SAvarms that devastate the country in their flights are in- 
variably natives of sandy plains or basins, comparatively 
destitute of vegetation, where the direct and reflected 
heat of the sun's rays in summer are more intense than 



270 



USURIOUS INSECTS 



are experienced in the Valley of the Mississippi. The 
humidity, however, is very much less; the air being like 
that of a furnace. In sach places, and on the hottest 
days, the Grasshopper is the most active, and then it at- 
tains its greatest perfection. When it has reached a cer- 
tain stage in its existence, it takes to flight. Those 
hatched in the same locality, and necessarily under the 
same climatic influences, rise in the air about the same 
time, but they do not move in concert. Their course is 
directed by the prevailing winds more than by any other 
influence. Consequently, in this country, it is generally 
from northwest to southeast. They alight or move for- 
ward at pleasure, each individual upon its own account. 
Many of them fly at an immense height. They have 
been seen on the highest peaks of the snowy range, four- 
teen to fifteen thousand feet above the sea, filling the 
air as much higher as they could be distinguished with a 
good field glass, glistening in the sunlight like snow- 
flakes. In crossing the snowy ranges countless myriads 
of them perish, l^early all that alight for food become 
so chilled that they are unable to rise again, and in a few 
days they die. On the great snow fields it is nothing un- 
common to see the dead so j^lentiful that they might be 
shovelled up by wagon loads. When the season comes 
for depositing their eggs, the swarms which happen to be 
in favorable localities, proceed to do so, after which most 
of them soon die and the pest disappears. Some doubt- 
less continue their flight. If the succeeding winter is 
mild, young Grasshoppers may be found upon sandy, 
sunny hillsides long before spring, but the great swarms 
appear with the earliest vegetation. Then it is they are 
the most destructive. It is a common belief that a young 
Grasshopper eats more than half a dozen full grown ones. 
They feed and grow, and in due time take flight, as did 
the generation before them. But few Grasshoppers are 
hatched in the mountains, properly speaking. It is true 



OF THE FARM AND GARDEN". 



271 



thej do in some of the valleys, up to the altitude of seven 
or eight thousand feet — possibly sometimes to nine thou- 
sand — but they usually come out so late that the frosts 
of the following fall catch them before they take flight. 
As an illustration, the Middle Park of the Eocky Moun- 
tains is a great basin, bowl-shaped, with a single line, 
broken out of its western rim. Otherwise, it is surround- 
ed by snowy mountains. Fifteen years ago, it was in- 
vaded by Grasshoppers from the direction of Utah, 
which deposited their eggs all over it. In its lower por- 
tion the young began hatching about the first of July. 
They attained maturity and took flight in August. 
Their hatching ground was from six to seven and a half 
thousand feet above the sea. Further up toward the rim 
they came out later, and at nine thousand feet they did 
not appear until the last of August. September frosts 
and snows caught them, and they never left their native 
ground. About the same time these latter hatched, im- 
mense swarms of full-grown insects came again from the 
west, but instead of lighting in the Park they drifted up 
against and upon the snowy range east of it, where they 
perished in countless millions. 

In August, 1864, this country had its worst visitation 
of "Hateful Grasshoppers." They had hatched in the 
valleys of the Upper Missouri, from six hundred to eight 
hundred miles distant, and swept over Colorado with a 
solid front. They ate up late crops and then deposited 
their eggs and died. In the following spring, their pro- 
geny came out of the ground with the early crops, which 
they devoured. When about one-third grown they were 
attacked by an Ichneumon Fly, which stung them in the 
back, depositing one or more eggs. The product of these 
destroyed probably one-half or two- thirds of the Grass- 
hoppers, and the balance in due time took flight and left 
us. With the exception of those two years, Colorado has 
not been generally nor severely scourged by that pest. 



272 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



They have done damage m several restricted localities, 
and have passed over in greater or less swarms almost 
every year since the settlement of the country^ but the 
prevalent idea that they are a yearly plague is a mistake. 
In New Mexico, which has been settled by the same 
people for two hundred years, generation after genera- 
tion of the same family, cultivating the same fields, they 
say they expect to lose about one crop in seven by Grass- 
hoppers. The experience in Utah, Montana, Idaho and 




rig. 158,— THE FEMALE EOCKY MOUNTAIN LOCUST DEPOSITING HER EGGS. 

a, a. a. Female Locusts in different positions, ovipositing ; h. Egg-pod extracted 
from ground, witli the end broken open ; c. Eggs ; d, e. Earth partially removed, to 
ghow an egg-mass already in place, and one being placed ; /, shows where such a 
mass has been covered up. 

JSTevada, is about the same as Kansas and Nebraska, 
Avhich States have suffered more or less until recently. 
They will not propagate in great numbers in the Missis- 
sippi Valley — not because it is too hot or too low, but be- 
cause it is too damp. 

When the Grasshopper invades a district, it at once 
sets about depositing its eggs, and the great injury to be 
apprehended is, from the brood to be hatched from them. 

Egg-layin'G akd HATCHiiq-G. — Figure 158 illustrates 
the manner in which the female lays her eggs. With two 



OF THE FARM AND GARDEN. 



273 



pair of horny yalves at tlie tip of the abdomen she is able 
to di-ill a cylindrical hole in the ground, preferring for 
this purpose soil that is rather firm, though not too hard. 
In a moist climate, or where yegetation is rank, she 
chooses bare and ex]30sed places, but in her native range, 
viz., the l^orth western Plains, where the yegetation is 
usually scant and short, she chooses rather the shade at 
the base of some Sage bush or Grease- wood shrub. When 
the hole is once drilled the eggs are laid in four tolerably 




Fig. 159.— EGG-MA.SSES OF LOCUST, MAGNIFIED. 



Egg Mass.— a, from the side, within burrow ; &, from beneath c, from above. 

regular rows (fig. 159), interspersed by a fluid which is 
frothy and mucous, and which dries around the eggs and 
fills up the neck of the burrow (fig. 159, d). Each fe- 
male lays from two to three batches of eggs, each batch 
containing about thirty eggs. The eggs are laid through- 
out the late summer and fall months until winter sets in, 
at which time every stage of embryonic development can 
be found. The great bulk of the eggs remain unhatched 
until the ensuing spring. 

Habits and Development. — The yonng locusts con- 
gregate in large numbers in warm and sonny places. At 
night, or during cold and damp weather, they usually 
huddle together under any shelter or rubbish that may be 
at hand. They do not migrate until they have eaten off 
the vegetation where they hatch. This usually happens 
when they are about one-third or one-half grown. They 



274 



li^JUKIOUS IKSECTS 



then travel during the warmer hours of the day by alter- 
nately walking and hopj^ing in yast bodies in some given 
direction. In thus travelling they move at the average 
rate ot about three yards a minute. There are six stages 




Fig. 160, — THE LAEV^ Ai^D PUPA OF LOCUST. 
a, a, Newly-hatched Larvae ; h, Full-grown Larva , c, Pupa of the Locust. 

of growth, i. e., the locust moults at five different periods. 
The change at each of these moults is but slight, and the 
wing-pads are first distinctly noticeable and turned up in 




Fig. 161, — THE PUPA OP THE LOCUST ACQUIRING WINGS. 

a. Pupa with skin just split on the back ; b, the imago extruding ; c, the imago near- 
ly out ; d, the imago with wings expanded. 

the fourth stage, or after the third moult. After the 
fourth moult we have the true pupa stage (fig. 160, c), 
and with the fifth moult the wings are acquired, the pro- 
cess being illustrated at figure 161. The time required 



01? TnE FARM A^TD GAEDEK. 



275 



from hatcliing to full development yaries according to 
season and weather, cold and wet weather retarding, and 
warm weather accelerating development. It averages, 
however, two months. There is but one generation each 
year, the term of the insect's life being bounded by the 
sirring and autumn frosts. 

Of the various methods of combating the attacks of 
this Grasshopper, we have 

The Destructioit of the Eggs. — Harrowing in the 
autumn, or during dry, mild weather in early winter, 
will prove one of the most effectual modes of destroying 
the eggs and preventing future injury, wherever it is 
available. A revolving harrow or a cultivator will do ex- 
cellent service in this way, not only in the field, but 
along roadways and other bare and uncultivated places. 
The object should be, not to stir deeply but to scarify and 
pulverize as much as possible the soil to about the depth 
of an inch. 

PLOWiiiTG. — E"ext to harrowing this is one of the most 
generally available means possessed by the farmer of 
dealing with locust-eggs. 

Irrigatiok. — This is feasible in much of the country 
subject to locust ravages, especially in the mountain 
fields or gardens. 

Coal-oil. — The use of coal-oil and coal-tar may be 
considered, as both substances are employed in various 
ways for trapping and destroying the insects. Coal-oil is 
the A'ery best and cheapest that can be used against the 
locusts. It may be used in any of its cruder forms, and 
various contrivances have been employed to facilitate its 
practical operation. The main idea embodied in these 
contrivances is that of a shallow receptacle of any con- 
venient size (varying from about three feet square to 
about eight or ten by two or three feet), provided with 
high back and sides, either mounted on wheels or run- 



276 



IKJUEIOUS INSECTS 



ners, or carried (by means of suitable handles or support- 
ing rods) by band. If tbe ^^pan" is larger than, say, 
three feet square, it is provided with transverse positions 
which serve to prevent any slopping of the contents (in 
case water and oil are used), when the device is subjected 
to any sudden irregular motion, such as tipping, or in 
case of a wbeeled pan, when it passes over uneven 
ground. The wheeled pan is used like a wheelbarrow; 
the hand-worked pan is carried by long handles at its 
ends. On jDushing or carrying, as the case may be, these 
pans, supplied with oil, over the infested fields, and man- 




Fii?. 163.— COAL-OIL PAN FOR CATCHING LOCUSTS. 



ipulating the shafts and handles so as to elevate or de- 
press the front edge of the pan as may be desired, the 
locusts are startled from their places and spring into the 
tar or oil, when they are either entangled by the tar and 
die slowly, or, coming in contact Avith the more active 
portion of the oil expire almost immediately. Fig. 162 
represents a sheet-iron pan that has been used in some lo- 
calities with good results. It must be made suflBciently 
tight to hold kerosene, of which sufiicient is used to cover 
the bottom. A simpler form_ of pan is shown in figure 
163. The bottom of this is to be covered with a thin lay- 
er of coal tar. Pans of this kind are made light enough 
to be drawn across the fields by boys ; or if heavy, horses 



OF THE FARM AND GARDEN. 



277 



are used to drag them. The majority of the insects per- 
ish within the pans, which mnst be occasionally emptied. 
If some of the locusts jr.mp oiit^ it is of little conse- 
quence;, as all that liaye been touched by the oil will soon 
die. In Colorado they use kerosene to good advantage 




Fig. 163.— COAL-TAR PAN FOR CATCHING LOCUSTS, 



on the water in their irrigating-ditches, and it may be 
used anywhere in pans or on cloths, stretched on frames 
and saturated with it, to be drawn over the field. 

Destruction of the Young or Unfledged Locusts. 

1st. Burning. — This method is perha23s the best in 
prairie and wheat-growing regions, which compose the 
larger part of the area subject to devastation by this lo- 
cust. In such regions there is usually more or less old 
straw or hay that may be scattered over or around the 
field in heaps and windrows, and into which the locusts, 
for some time after tliey hatch, may be driven and 
burned. During cold or damp weather they congregate 
of their own accord under such shelter, when they may 
be destroyed by burning, without the necessity of previous 
driving. Much has been said for and against the benefi- 
cial results of burning the prairies in the spring. This 



278 



lis^JUEIOUS I]S"SECT3 



is chiefly beneficial around cultivated fields or along the 
road sides, from which the locusts may be driven, or 
from which they will of themselves pass for the shelter 
the prairie alfords. 

As locusts disperse more and more from their hatch- 
ing-grounds into the prairie as they develop, burning the 
grass in spring is beneficial in proportion as it is delayed. 

2nd. Ckushixg. — The wholesale destruction of locusts 
by this means, can only be advantageously accomplished 
where the ground is smooth and hard. Where the sur- 
face of the ground presents this character, heavy rolling 
can be successfully employed, especially in the mornings 
and evenings of the first eight or ten days after the newly 
hatched young have made their appearance, as they are 
generally sluggish during these times, and huddle to- 
gether until after sunrise. It is also advantageously em- 
ployed during cold weather at any time of day, since the 
young when the temperature is low seek shelter under 
clods, etc. Various machines have been devised for 
crushing the young. 

3rd. Teappikg. — This can easily be accomj^lished, es- 
pecially when the locusts are making their way from roads 
and hedges. The use of nets at sunrise, or long strips 
of muslin, calico, or similar materials, converging after 
the manner of quail-nets have proved very satisfactory. 
By digging pits or holes three or four feet deep, and then 
staking the two wings so that they converge toward 
them, large numbers may be secured in this way after the 
dew is off the ground, or they may be headed off when 
marching in a given direction. Much good may be ac- 
complished by changing the position of the trap while 
the locusts are yet small and congregate in isolated or 
particular patches. 

DiTCHiXG and Tee^s'CHI'JsG properly come under this 
head; and both plans are very effectual in protecting 



OF THE FARM AND GAKDEN". 



279 



crops against the inroads of travelling schools of the in- 
sects. They were found especially advantageous in much 
of the ravaged country in a year when there was little or 
no hay or straw to burn. They are the best available 
means when the crops are advanced, and when most of 
the other destructive methods so advisable early in the 
season can no longer be effectually used. Simple ditches, 
two feet wide and two feet deep, with perpendicular 
sides, offer effectual barriers to the young insects. They 
must, however, be kept in order so that the sides next 
the fields to be protected are not allowed to wash out or 
become too hard. They may be kept friable by a brush 
or rake. 

The young locusts tumble into such a ditch and ac- 
cumulate and die at the bottom in large quantities. In 
a few days the stench becomes great, and necessitates the 
covering wp of the mass. In order to keep the main 
ditch open, therefore, it is best to dig pits or deeper side 
ditches at short intervals, in which the locusts will accu- 
mulate and may be buried. If a trench is made around 
a field about hatching-time, but few locusts will get into 
that field until they acquire wings, and by that time the 
principal danger is over, and the insects are fast disap- 
pearing. If any should hatch within the inclosure, they 
are easily driven into the ditches dug in different parts of 
the field. 

Protectiok by Baeeiees. — Where ditches are not 
easily made, and where lumber is plentiful, a board fence 
two feet high and with a three-inch batten nailed to the 
top or side from which the locusts are coming, the edge 
of it smeared with coal-tar, serves as an effectual bar- 
rier, and proves useful to protect regions, where, save in 
exceptionally favorable locations, agriculture can be suc- 
cessfully carried on only by its aid, and where means are 
already extensively provided for the artificial irrigation 



380 



INJUEIOUS INSECTS 



of large areas. Where tlie ground is light and porous, 
prolonged and excessive moisture will cause most of the 
eggs to perish, and irrigation in autumn or in spring 
may prove beneficial. 

4tli. Trampi^tg. — In pastures or in fields where hcgs, 
cattle, or horses can be confined when the ground is not 
frozen, many if not most of the locust-eggs will be de- 
stroyed by the rooting and tramping. 

5th. OoLLECTiKG THE Eggs. — The eggs are frequently 
placed where none of the above means for destroying 
them can be employed. In such cases they should be 
collected and destroyed by the inhabitants, and the State 
should offer some inducement in the way of bounty for 
such collection and destruction. Every bushel of eggs 
destroyed is equivalent to a hundred acres of corn saved, 
and when we consider the amount of destruction caused 
by the young, and that the ground is often known to be 
filled with eggs; that, in other words, the earth is sown 
with seeds of future destruction, it is surprising that 
more legislation has not been had, looking to their exter- 
mination. 

One of the most rapid ways of collecting the eggs, es- 
pecially where they are numerous and in light soils, is to 
slice off about an inch of the soil by trowel or spade, and 
then cart the egg-laden earth to some sheltered place 
where it may be allowed to dry, when it may be sifted so 
as to separate the eggs and egg-masses from the earth. 
The eggs thus collected may easily be destroyed by bury- 
ing them in deep pits, providing the ground be packed 
hard on the surface. 

THE PEOTECTIO^r OF FRUIT TREES. 

The best means of protecting fruit and shade trees de- 
serves separate consideration. Where the trunks are 
smooth and perpendicular they may be protected by white- 



OF THE FARM AND GARDEis^. 



281 



wasliing. The lime crumbles under the feet of the in- 
sects as they attempt to climb, and 2:>revents their getting 
up. By their persistent efforts, however, they gradually 
wear oif the lime and reach a higher point each day, so 
that the whitewashing must be often repeated. Trees 
with short, rough trunks, or which lean over, are not 
\evj well protected in this way. A strip of smooth, 
bright tin answers better for the same purpose. A strip 
three or four inches wide brought around and tacked to a 
smooth tree will j^rotect it, while on rougher trees a piece 
of old rope may first be fastened around the tree with 
small nails, and the tin tacked to the rope, so as to leave 
a portion of it both above and below. Passages between 
the tin and the rope or the rope and tree can then be 
blocked by filling the upper area between the tin and tree 
with earth. The tin must be high enough from the 
ground to prevent the 'hoj^pers from jumping from the 
latter beyond it, and the trunk below the tree, where the 
insects collect, should be covered with some coal-tar or 
poisonous substances to prevent girdling. This is more 
especially necessary with small trees, and coal-tar will 
answer as a preventive. 

One of the cheapest and simplest modes is to encircle 
the tree with cotton batting, in which the insects will 
entangle their feet and thus be more or less obstructed. 
Strips of paper covered with tar; stiff paper tied on so as 
to slope roof -fashion; strips of glazed wall-paper, and 
thick coatings of soft-soap, have been used with varying 
success; but no estoppel equals the bright tin. The oth- 
ers require constant watching and renewal, and in all 
cases coming under our observation some insects would 
get into the trees, so as to require the daily shaking of 
these morning and evening. This will sometimes have to 
be done when tlie bulk of the insects have become fledged, 
even when tin is used, for a certain proportion of the in- 
sects will then fly into the trees. They do most damage 



282 



liy^JURIOUS li^SECTS. 



during the niglit, and care should be liad that the trees 
be unloaded of their Toiacious freight just before dark. 

It has been found that the whitewash was rendered 
still more effectual by adding one-half pint of turpentine 
to the pailful. 

DESTRUCTIOiy' OF THE WI^TGED i:S'SECTS. 

The complete destruction of the winged insects, 
when they swoop down tipon a country in prodigious 
swarms, is impossible. Man is powerless before the 
mighty host. Special plants, or small tracts of yegeta- 
tion may be sayed by perseyeringiy driying the insects 
off, or keeping them off by means of smudges, as the lo- 
custs ayoid smoke; or by rattling or tingling noises con- 
stantly kept up. Long ropes ^perseyeringiy dragged over 
a grain field haye been used to good adyantage. 



INDEX. 



Abbot Sphinx 224 

Abdomen T 

Abraxis ribearia 1 99 

Achemon Sphinx. 219 

^geria cucarhit(E 63 

exitiosa 183 

" tipuliformis 206 

A grUus rv. ficoUls 213 

Agrotis scandens 176 

telifera 65-80 

Aletia argillacea 129 

Alypia odomamlata 226 

American Bean-weevil 19 

American Woodbine 219-220 

Ampelopsis quinqnefolia 219-220 

Amphicerus bicaudatus 145 

Anasa t its Its 61 

Anchyloperafragarioe 209 

vacciniana 260 

Anisopferyx vernata 166 

Anihocorls insidiosus 119 

Anthorwmus quadrigibbus 165 

" guturalis 261 

Anthomyia befce 67 

ceparum 53 

" zeas ,..72 

Ants 10 

Aphides 2fi4 

Aphis, Orange 256 

Apple -161-164-165-166-170-171-1 72-174 

Apple Cnrculio 165 

Apple Maggot 164 

Apple-tree . . . .13'.»- 144^145-147-148-151 

Apple-tree Bark-lice 147 

Apple-tree Borers 139 

Apple-tree Borer, Flat-headed 144 

Apple-tree Borer, Kound-headed. . .139 

Apple-twig Borer 145 

Apple-tree Tent-caterpillar 151 

Apple-worm 161 

Army-worms 129 

Army-worm, Northern 130 

Army-worm, Wheat-head 134 

Ash-gray Blister-beetle 90 

Ash-gray Leaf-bug 118 

Asopia cosfalis 137 

Asparagus-beetle 15-33 

Aspidiotm concMformis 148 

Hanisii. 147 

283 



Aster 83 

Bag-worm 177 

Baiidius trinotatm 85 

Bark-lice, Apple-tree 147 

Bark-louse, Harris' 147 

Oyster-shell 148 

Barley 124 

Basket-worm 177 

Bean 17 

" English, or Windsor 9! 

" weevil 19 

Beautiful Wood-nymph 228 

Bees 10 

Beet 67 

" Carrion Beetle 67 

" Fly 67 

Beetles 10 

" Click 81 

" Carrion 67 

Colorado Potato 94 

" Golden Tortoise 106 

" Grape-vine Flea 241 

" Spring 81 

"• Strawberry-leaf 208 

Striped Turnip 35 

" Three-lined Leaf 92 

" Tortoise 101 

Blackberry 210-211-212 

" Borers 212 

" Flea-louse 211 

Gall 212 

Black Blister-beetle 91 

Black-legged Tortoise-beetle 109 



Black-rat Blister-beetle 91 



Blissus leucopterus 112 

Blister-beetle, Ash-gray 90 

Black 91 

" Black-rat 91 

" Margined 92 

Striped 89 

Blue Caterpillars of the Vine 226 

Blue-louse ....267 

Bogus Colorado Potato-beetle 97 

Boll-worm 66-68 

Borers 8 

" Apple-tree 139 

" Apple-twig 145 

" Blackberry 212 

Clover-root 136 



284 



IXDEX. 



Borers. Currant-stalk 206 

" Flat-headed Apple-tree 144 

•■' Peach 183 

Poiaro-stalk S3 

K^umd-headed Apple-tree. . 13'P 

" Sqir.ish 63 

Str;r«vi.)-iry e'rowu "209 

Botys bicolur 2:3-2 

Brv.clius fahae, 19 

imi 56 

Biid-worm. Cranberry -261 

Bug. Chinch ir2 

•• Mealy 26S 

'• Eose.... 245 

" Squash 61 

Bugs. True 12 

Bupestris. Red-necked 213 

Butterflies 11 

Cabbage 21 

Butterfly. Pot-herb 24 

Eape 22 

Southern Cabbage 27 

Cabbage 21-24-27-29-3 1-: 3-35-37 

Cabbage-bug, Harlequin 37 

Butterflies 21 

Plusia 29 

" worm, New 33 

Caloptenus spretus 269 

Camel Cricket. 2.34 

Camellias 2 2 

Campanotus esuriens 265 

Canker-woiTQ 166 

Caraway 55 

Carnation. . 83 

Carrion-beetle 67 

Carrot 21-55 

Carpocapsa pomoneUa 161 

Cassida aurkhalcea 106 

" Uutfafa 105 

" guttafa 108 

idrnp'^s 109 

pallida lOS 

Caterpillars ^ 

Caterpillar. Apple tree Tent 151 

" Blue, of the Vine 226 

Corn...., 66 

'* Hog. of the A'ine 215 

'• Red-humped 170 

'•■ Surface 79 

Tent, of the Forest 155 

Zebra 31 

Ctuliflower 21-31 

Cecidomyia destructor 1-0 



I Cecidomyia trifoUi 133 

Celery 55 

Centipedes 82 

\ Cereal Grains 112 

; CliCErocarrip , irminhr r, I r 215 

Chafer. Ro:-e ..245 

Chalcid. Four-winL-ed Fly 122 

('UtnOpOdi'ini ■iJb'-m yi 

Cherry. Wild 154 

Cherry-slug 182 

Chinch-bug 112 

False 61-117 

Chrysalis 8 

Ch rysobothrlsjernorata 144 

Cicada, Periodical 190 

Seventeen-year 190 

; Thirteen-year 196 

! Ckad'i. .'^■pi€n'l--cbn 190 

; 196 

Classiacation of Insects... 10 

: Cla-sPptera prcrev.s 261 

' Click-beL'tk'S 81 

Climbing Cut-worms 174 

C-hloeampa Amtricana. 151 

CAsiocarapa sy'vaiica 155 

Clover 135 

' " Hay- worm 137 

Root-borer 136 

Seed Midge 135 

Cock-chafer 75 

Cockle-bur 84 

Codling-moth 161 

Coloptera 10 

Colorado Potato-beetle 94 

! " ■■ •• Bogus 97 

\ ^' '• Parasite. .. .101 

I Conotrachdm nenuphar 185 

\ Coreus tristis 61 

Corn, Indian • 67 

1 " Seed 72 

" worm 68 

Cotton-worm 129 

Cranberry 260 

Bud- worm 261 

" Fruit- worm 261 

Leaf-hopper 261 

; " Saw-fly..' 261 

j " Tine- worm 260 

{ Cricket Snowy-tree 214 

I Crioseris a-?paragi 15 

Crow T7 

Cucumber 42-45 

, Cucumber-beetle, Striped 42 



IXDEX. 



285 



Ctircalio, Apple 165 

Plum 185 

Currant 199-202-205-206 

Stalk-borer 206 

" worm, Imported 202 

" worm. Native 205 

Cut- worm. Greasy 65-80 

Cut-worms 78 

" •• Climbing . ...174 

Dactylopius de-itnidor 268 

Dahlia 83 

Datura 99 

Desmia maculalls 231 

Diabrotica \2-punctata 45-63 

" xittata 42 

DiastwpJvus msc>it<zfo) mis 212 

" nebuloms 212 

Digger-wasp 197 

T>iplosis tntici 123 

Diptera: 12 

Dor-bug 73 

" " Trap for 78 

BorypMra decerrdineata 94 

" juncta 97 

Dragon-fly 14 

Drop-worm K7 

Egg 8 

Egg-plant 99 

Eight-spotted Forester 226 

Elater 81 

Elm 166-171 

E!ytra 11 

Emphyfus maculatus 207 

Encyrtus inqvMtor 268 

Eryihroneura 2.59 

Eudryas grata 228 

" unio 229 

Eujitchia ribearia 199 

Fail Web- worm 160 

False Chinch-bug 117 

Wire-worms S2 

Fennel 55 

Flat-headed Apple-tree Borer. . 144 

Flea-beetle, Grape-vine 241 

" " Wavy-striped 35 

Flower-bug. Insidious 119 

Fly. Beet f i7 

'• Hessian 120 

Forest Tent-caterpillar 155 

Forester. Eight-spotted 226 

Fruit Trees 280 

Fruit-worm. Cranberry 261 

Fungus on White Grub 78 



Gall, Blackberry 212 

" Raspberry 213 

Grarden Vegetables, Insects Injuri- 
ous to 15 

Girdler, Twig 171 

Grolden Tortoise-beetle 106 

Gortynia rdtida S3 

Gooseberry 199-202-205 

Gooseberry Span-worm 199 

Groose-foot , 33 

Grape, 174-215-219-220-224-226-228-229 
231-233-235-238-241 - 244-245-24 6-248- 
259. 

Grape-beny Moth 238 

Grape Leaf -folder 231 

" Leaf -hopper 259 

" Phylloxera 248 

Grape-vine Flea-beetle a41 

" Plume 235 

" " ^-Thrips." 259 

Grapotdera chalybea 241 

Grass Crops 112 

Grasshopper, Hateful 269 

'• " Eocky Mountain ...269 

Greasy Cut-worm 65-79 

Grub, White 206 

Grubs 8 

Ealtica chalybea 241 

stnolata 35-110 

"Hanneton."' 75 

Harris" Bark-louse 147 

Harlequin Cabbage-bug 37 

Harpaclor cindus 119 

Hateful Grasshopper 269 

Head 7 

Heart-worm 23 

Udiothis armigera 66-68 

Hellebore, White 201 

Hemiptera 12 

Hessian Fly .. .120 

Hickory 17 1 

Hog-caterpillar of the Tine 215 

Honey-Iocast 91 

Horse-n^ttl- 29-98 

Hylmn- s Mfolu 136 

Hyrnenoptera 10 

Eyphatdna textor 160 

Ichneumon Flies 10-2S 

Imago n 

Imported Currant-worm 202 

Indian Corn . 67 

Insects Injurious to Garden Vege- 
tables 15 



IKDEX. 



Insects Injurious to Root Crops.. . 67 
Insects of Flower Garden and 

Greenhouse 262 

Introduction 7 

Insidious Flower-bug 119 

Isosoma hordei 124 

Ithycereus Nmeboracensis 172 

lulus multistriatus 83 

Ivy 262 

Jamestown "Weed 99 

Joint-worm 124 

June-bug 73 

" Trap for 78 

Kansas, Year of Drouth 70 

Lachnosterna fusca 73 

Lady-bird 101-268 

Lady-bugs lol 

Lambs-quarter 33 

Laphrygmafrugiperda 129 

Larva 8 

Leaf-beetle, Strawberry 208 

" Three-lined 92 

Leaf-bug, Ash-gray 118 

Leaf -folder. Grape .231 

Leaf -gall Phylloxera 248 

Leaf-hopper, Cranberry 261 

" " Grape 259 

Leaf -roller, Strawberry 209 

Lema trilineata 92 

Lepidopiera 11 

Leuccmia alUlinia 134 

" unipunctata 130 

Lice, PlaQt 261 

Ligyrus 75 

Lilies -. 83 

Linden, American 171 

Locust, Rocky Mountain 269 

" Seventeen-year 190 

" Thirteen- year... 196 

London Purple 100 

Louse, Blue 267 

Lubb(!r Grasshopper 13 

Lytta atmta . 91 

" cinerea 90 

" marginata 92 

" murina 91 

" mttata 89 

Macrodactylus stibsplnosus 245 

Maggots 8 

Maggot, Apple 164 

Seed Corn 72 

Mamestra picta. 31 

Mangel WurzeL . . . , . » . . , < < , . 67 



Mantis Carolina 234 

Many-banded Robber 119 

Margined Blister-beetle 92 

May-bug ....73-78 

Mealy-bug, ...268 

Meloloniha vulgaris 75 

Melon-worm 48 

Midge, Clover-seed 135 

Wheat 123 

Mignonette 21 

Millipedes 82 

Moths 11 

Moth, Codling 161 

" Grape-berry 238 

Mottled Tortoise-beetle 108 

Muck- worm 75 

Mustard 39 

Myriapods 82 

Mytila2)sis potnicoriicis 148 

Nasturtium 21 

Native Currant- worm 205 

Nematus ventricosus 202 

Nerve-winged In sects 14 

Neuroptera 14 

New York Weevil 172 

Northern Army Worm 130 

Notodonta concinna 170 

Nymph, Beautiful Wood 228 

" Pearl-wood 229 

Nysiiis destriicior 61-117 

Oberea perspicillata 212 

(Ecanthus niveus 214 

Oncideres cingulatus 171 

Onion 52-53 

Onion-fly, Black — 52 

" " Imported 53 

Orange 205-267 

" Aphis 266 

Orange-Rust 212 

Ortalisjlexa 52 

Orthoptera 13 

Oyster-shell Bark-louse 148 

Painted Mamestra 31 

Pale-thighed Tortoise-beetle 108 

Parasite of Colorado Potato-beetle. 101 

" " Potato-worm 88 

Paria aterrima .208 

Paris Green, Use of . 99 

Parsley- worm 55 

Parsnip 55 

Pea- weevil 56 

Peach..... 172-183 

Peach-borer 183 



287 



Pear lTO-171-172-174-182 

Pear-slag 182 

Pearl Wood-nymph , 229 

Pelidnota punctata 244 

Pelidnota, The Spotted 244 

Penthina vitivorana 238 

Periodical Cicada 190 

Persimmon 171 

PhaceUura hyalinatalis 48 

" nitidalis 45 

Philampelus acheiiwn 219 

satellitia 220 

Phylloxera, Grape 248 

Phylloxera vastatrix 248 

Pickle-worm 45 

Pkris oleracea 24 

" Protodice 27 

rapcE 22 

Piesma cinerea 118 

Pimpla conquisitor 52 

Pionea rimosalis 33 

Plant Lice 264 

Plum 171-172-185 

Plum Curculio 185 

Plume, Grape-vine 235 

Plusia brassiccB 29 

Potato 83 

" Beetle. Colorado 94 

Stalk-borer 83 

" Stalk-weevil 85 

" Worm 86 

" Worm Parasite SB 

" Sweet 102 

Pot-herb Butterfly 24 

PnstipJiora grossnlarm 205 

" identidem 261 

Prunus serotina 154 

Psylla riibi 211 

Pt^rophorus perlscelidactylus 235 

Pumpkin 61 

Pupa 8 

Kadish 39-61 

Eape Butterfly 22 

Easpberry 212-213-214 

Galls 213 

Eed-humped Caterpillar 170 

Red-necked Bupestris 213 

Red Spider 210 

Beduvius . ..12 

Robber, Many-banded.- 119 

Rocky Mountain Grasshopper.. . 269 

" Locust 269 

Rose .246 



Rose Bug 245-263 

" Chafer. 245 

" Slug 263 

Root Crops, Insects Injurious to. . . 67 

Ruta-baga 32-110 

Saperda bivittata 139 

Satellite Sphinx 220 

Saw-fly, Cranberry 261 

Scymnus tnoculatus 268 

Seed-corn Maggot 72 

Selandria cerasi 182 

" rosce 263 

Semiotelus destructor .122 

Seventeen-year Cicada 190 

SUphaopaca 67 

Siphonvphora citrifolii 266 

Skunk 78 

Slug, Cherry 182 

" Pear 182 

" Rose 263 

Small Fraits 199 

Snow-berry 33 

Snowy Tree-cricket 214 

Solarium Carolinense 29-98 

" mdongena 99 

Southern Cabbage Butterfly 27 

" Grass- worm 129 

Span-worm, Gooseberry 199 

Sphinx, Abbot 224 

" Achemon 219 

Satellite a 220 

Sphinx Carolina 86 

" quinquemaculata 65-86 

Spilsoma Virginica 223 

Spiracles 7 

Spotted Pelidnota 244 

Squash 61-63 

" Borer 63 

" Bug 61 

Spring-beetles 81 

Stalk-borer, Currant 206 

Stizus grandis 197 

Strachia hislrionica 37 

Straight- winged Insects 13 

Strawberry. . 74-83-206-207-208-209-210 

" Crown-borer 209 

Leaf -beetle 208 

Leaf -roller 209 

Worm 207 

Striped Blister-beetle 89 

Bug 42 

" Cucumber-beetle 42 

" Turnip-beetle 35 



288 



IXDEX. 



Surface Caterpillars 79 

Swedes 110 

Sweet Potato 102 

" Beetle, Two-striped. .105 

Symphoricarpus racemosus 33 

Tent-caterpillar, Apple-tree 151 

of the Forest 154 

Tettigonia vitis 259 

Texan Cabbage-bng 41 

Thirteen -year Cicada 196 

Thorax 7 

Three-lined Leaf -beetle 92 

Thridopteryx eplienmrefornm 177 

"Thrips" 259 

Thy reus AWotii 224 

Tobacco-water, Use of 263 

Worm S6 

Tomato 66-67 

Tomato-worm 65 -S6 

Parasite 88 

Tortoise-beetles 101 

Tortoise-beetle, Black-legged 109 

Mottled 108 

Pale-thighed 108 

Trap for June-bug 78 

Trioxys 267 

Trochilium cucurbUce 63 

Trypeta pmionella 164 

Turnip 21-38-110 

Beetle, Striped 35 

Flea-beetle.. 110 

Fly 110 

Twelve-spotted Squash-beetle 63 

" " Diabrotica 45 

Twig-girdler 171 

Two-Striped Sweet Potato Beetle. .105 

Two-winged Insects 12 

Tyloderma fragarice 209 

TJredo ruborum 212 

Uropoda Americana 101 

Yeratram album 204 

Ver du Cmir 2:3 

Vine-worm, Cranberry 260 

Virginia Creeper 219-220-224 

Vines. Susceptibility to Phylloxera. 258 

Wasps 10 

Wasp, Digger 197 



Wavy-striped Fiea-beetle 35-110 

Web-worm, Fall 160 

Wee-^il, American Beau 19 

New York 172 

Pea 56 

Potato-stalk S5 

Wheat 115 

Wheat-head Army Worm I.34 

Wheat-midge i-i3 

Wheel-bug , 12 

White Berry 33 

White Grub 67-73-206 

" Fungus , 78 

"^Tiite Hellebore 204 

Wild Cherry 154 

Wire-worms 81 

False 82 

Wood Nymph, Beautiful 228 

Pearl 229 

Worm, Apple 16I 

Army 129 

Bag 177 

Basket 177 

" Boll 66-68 

Canker 166 

Climbing Cut 177 

Clover 1.37 

Currant. Imported 202 

Cut 7S 

Corn , 68 

Drop 177 

Fall Web 16O 

False Wire 82 

Gooseberry Span 199 

Joint 124 

Muck 75 

Native Currant 205 

Northern Army 130 

Potato 86 

" Southern Grass 129 

Strawberry 207 

Tobacco SO 

Tomato , 65-86 

" Wire 81 

Xant?ii".iJ>. 'imiirhnn S4 

Yellow-bear. Common , 233 

Zebra Caterpillar . . . 31 



